


Under the Milky Way

by Nighthood13



Series: Skadi- MCU [2]
Category: Asgardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy (Comics), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Legendary Star-Lord, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Original Character(s), Other, Peter Quill Feels, Post-Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Protective Gamora (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-08-02 16:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 61,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16308326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nighthood13/pseuds/Nighthood13
Summary: After successfully saving Xandar, Skadi and the newly formed Guardians of the Galaxy thought it'd be a good balance between a little bad and a little good. Little did they know that the bad would outweigh the good after meeting a man claiming to be Peter's dad, all the while being chased down by a golden priestess and The Ravagers.





	1. Sun Is Shinin' In The Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! First chapter of Vol.2 ! I'm so excited to start posting this one. I love Vol. 2 so much and can't wait to do my own take of it.

 

* * *

 

To say that the Sovereign skyline was anything besides breathtaking would be a lie. The golden planet made of interlocking orbs was probably the most beautiful city Skadi Hunt had ever stepped foot on, or at least that she could remember. The large blue sun beamed down on her and her newfound team as they stood perched atop one the cities highest buildings. From up there the city could fool you into thinking that it was some kind of metropolis. But for any outsider to say that the Sovereign was a metropolis was in fact a lie. The planet, though properly one of the greatest in the surrounding solar systems in many aspects but was also one of the worst as well.

            The Guardians had been called upon by their High Priestess, Ayesha, for a job weeks ago and at first turned the job down without a second thought; the job was nonpaying. Rocket scoffed as the woman who contacted them told them that they’d be paid with the  _honor_  of serving the Sovereign. The mere fact that they’d be allowed onto their home world was payment enough for anyone.

            “I can’t buy weapons with honor.” Rocket had mocked before hanging up the call.

            The Sovereign were not the type of people to take no for an answer. They were a people full of egotistical desire, all believing that they deserved everything and anything that crossed their mind.  The High Priestess was infuriated that such lower life forms would deny her such an easy task. She ignored her Admiral’s advice when he offered that his army could easily handle the Abilisk that had been terrorizing her cities, trying to feast upon their power supply. If the task was beneath the Guardians doing then why would she allow her people to do it; it’d be degrading.

            It wasn’t until one night when Ayesha knew that they now had a way to get the Guardian’s help did she almost not bother having one of her servant’s call them back at all out of spite. Ayesha knew of Gamora and her past with Thanos so the moment her younger sister, Nebula, was caught trying to steal the very same batteries they called the Guardians to protect, Ayesha knew that Gamora would make her team come to the Sovereign. And Ayesha was correct of course, she sat comfortably in her throne room waiting for the Guardians to return after a job well done.

            “Show time a-holes!” Peter called out, looking up from an old game from his childhood that Rocket had converted into a tracker. “It’ll be here any minute.”

            “Which will be its loss.” Gamora cocked the gun she was holding.

             _Guns where his thing_ , Peter thought, raising an eyebrow at her as he saw this.

            The others often teased him about how his ‘manhood’, as Drax liked to call it, was threatened by Gamora. Peter would swiftly deny it, wanting to look big and tough for Skadi but Skadi found it adorable how jealous Peter would constantly get of the green woman. She was better at a lot of things then he was but that didn’t make him any less of a leader. Peter never saw it that way though, no matter how many times Skadi tried to convince him.  

            “Isn’t that Drax’s rifle?” Peter questioned, trying to hide the wariness in his voice. 

            “Yes.” Gamora shrugged, rolling her eyes at his question.

            She was amused by Peter’s small outbursts before every mission. She knew he didn’t mean anything by it, it was just how he was as she came to learn over the last three months of them being a team. He was much like the Sovereign even though she didn’t have the heart to tell him that to his face. His ego was huge and his pride easily threatened. She also knew that this was because of his and Skadi’s new relationship together. The pair were still getting used to the idea of being together romantically and Gamora watched from the sidelines amused at the pair. Peter would stop for any chance to impress the younger girl.

            “Well why doesn’t Drax have it? I thought your thing was a sword?” Peter pushed, silently not wanting to be outdone by Gamora again.

            “We’ve been hired to fight an interdimensional monster and stop it from eating these batteries and you expect her to stop it with a sword?” Dara spoke up, overhearing their conversation as she stood next to Drax and Skadi.

            “Well, Drax’s is using his knives so…,” Peter trailed off again, biting his lip.

            Dara rolled her eyes at the Terran, still finding him annoying after all this time. She let him have the last word on the subject and moved on.

            Skadi was thankful to the Badoon, not wanting to hear any more of their back and forth. She couldn’t help but smirk though and let out a chuckle at Peter as he went back to looking at the tracker. Her attention then shifted to Drax after remembering Peter’s words; he was using his knives to fight. Scrunching her face up, she knew that the Destroyer could handle himself but an Abilisk wouldn’t go down easily with knives. Their skin was super thick and durable, hence why Gamora settled for a gun instead of her Godslayer in the first place.

            “Um, Drax?” Skadi called out, also noting that he wasn’t wearing one of Rocket’s aero-rigs.

            The raccoon had worked hard on pulling them together for this mission. The Abilisk had multiple tentacles and for the sake of being able to avoid them, they all needed to be able to move out of the way in any direction. Skadi specifically remembered Rocket making one for the Destroyer and didn’t know why he decided against wearing one. He was going to walk into this battle with two small knives and no way to fly; he was going to get himself killed.

            “Why aren’t you wearing your aero-rig?” she asked when he turned to look at her.

            “It hurts.” Drax responded quietly, as if it was common knowledge.

            “It hurts?” She was confused. “Rocket could’ve adjusted it to-,”

            “I have sensitive nipples.” He muttered under his breath, not wanting the others to hear.

            Rocket could hear everything though with his enhanced hearing. He momentarily stopped his work on a pair of speakers he wired to Peter’s Walkman. Laughing hardly, he mocked Drax, rubbing circles over his own aero-rig where his nipples would be.

            “Oh my nipples hurt! Oh goodness me!”

            “What of him! What is he doing?” Drax pointed to Rocket, enraged and looking to point their attention elsewhere.

            “I’m finishing this so we can listen to tunes while we work!” Rocket defended, motioning to the equipment.

            “How is that a priority?” Drax questioned.

            “Blame Quill!” Rocket pointed now to Quill, much rather having everyone giving him a hard time over himself. “He’s the one who loves music so much!”

            “I never asked you to do that.” Peter shook his head, agreeing with Drax. “It’s hardly important right now.”

            “Oh, oh okay.” Rocket winked his eye at the Terran, understanding that Peter just didn’t want everyone yelling at him. “Sure Quill.”

            “No, seriously, I agree with Drax.” Peter assured Rocket, willing the raccoon to stop blinking awkwardly.

            “No I understand that, Quill. You’re being very serious right now.”

            Dara snorted as Rocket continued to blink, making his whole face twitch and look like he was having some form of a seizure.  _Who the hell taught him how to blink_ , she thought to herself, nudging Skadi to look as she copied him, mockingly. Skadi tried not to giggle as she noted Gamora’s hard stare on them, warning them to stop.

            “I can clearly see you winking.” Drax pointed out, his face still serious and unamused.

            “Damn it, I’m using my left eye?” He questioned himself.

            Before anyone could push the matter further, or start up another agreement they all heard a small growl. Rocket looked down to see Groot, newly unpotted and only nine inches or so tall. He had been nicely playing with some Orloni that had been up there foraging for food. Now, the baby tree angrily ran up to them, shoving one to the ground. As the one next to the fallen one saw this it hissed at the baby, only to be slapped in the face by his small hand. They quickly hopped away afraid and agitated.

            Groot looked up and saw Rocket staring down at him, awaiting an explanation for his outburst. Groot stood his ground knowing that they deserved it. “I am Groot!”

            “They were not looking at you funny!” Rocket exclaimed.

            Groot was going to talk back but was cut off when a large crack let out from the sky. The Guardian’s look up just as the sky opened up a portal and out came the Abilisk, charging down towards them.

            “Well that’s intense.” Rocket deadpanned, having not paid attention during Gamora’s briefing on the creature earlier.

            Drax hollered, charging first with his twin blades. The other soon followed, Peter turning his mask on, Gamora and Dara taking to the sky as he did. Rocket and Skadi joined them as well, ordering Groot to behave while they worked. Groot, as per usual, didn’t listen to their wishes for too long. He trotted up to the stereo speakers and Walkman. He picked up the two wires that Rocket had been working on and fiddled with them. They sparked when he finally uses all his strength to plug them together. The opening notes of his favorite song began to play causing his small little hips to shake from side to side before eventually striking a pose out of excitement.

            He was ready to play.


	2. There Ain't A Cloud In Sight

* * *

 

Skadi could hear the beginning of Mr. Blue Sky play causing her to look over to see who turned the speakers on. It was baby Groot and she couldn’t help but let out an ‘awe’ as he danced around in place. She snapped out of it at the call of her name, paying attention as one of the Abilisk’s tentacles came straight for her. She shot up in the air, narrowly missing being hit, wincing as she saw instead of her being hit, Peter now had been.

            Peter always kept a watchful eye on Skadi during missions. She had been getting better due to Gamora and Dara insisting on training her but it was a force of habit to worry over her. She told him to stop because he’d end up getting hurt one day but he never listened. He had seen her get distracted by Groot and called out to her as the Abilisk turned its attention to her after she rained down a storm of ice on him.

            He was glad she moved out of the way in time but groaned when now the tentacle headed straight towards him. He was thrown back to where they had been standing before, landing heavily onto the floor. Peter was thankful for his helmet because even with it on the blow would have made him dizzy and he couldn’t image the pain without it.

             When he came too, he stood up as he saw Groot not paying attention to his surroundings. He had been against bringing Groot with them on missions but Rocket ensured him that it’d be fine; it was better than having one of them stay behind to watch him like they had been doing up until now.

             “Groot!” Peter called out to the tree, wanting to warn him again to be careful.

            He took a quick shot at the Abilisk and then another, annoyed that the tree wasn’t listening to a word he was saying. Instead he was just dancing around, lost in the music. Usually Peter would find this adorable and join in but now was not the time.

            “Groot look out!” he warned, just as he was hit by another tentacle sending him off flying.

            Gamora flew the highest, using the vantage point to deliver round after round of ammo at the creature. She watched as Peter had been struck down, along now with Drax who was now in the clutches of a giant tentacle and being thrown back and forth against the floor as the Abilisk refused to let him go. Dara joined Gamora, picking up different debris that the monster made and using them to fling at him. It was barely making a dent as the creature only pummeled the Guardians harder.

            Gamora touched down to the ground to try another angle when Skadi moved to replace her, trying to deal damaged with her own powers. From the corner of her eye, Gamora saw Groot approaching her. She was with Peter when he protested allowing Groot to come. This was no place for someone so young. It wasn’t only for the safety of the small sapling but for everyone else. She already saw Skadi being distracted by Groot, following by Peter.

            “Get out of the way, Groot!” She ordered, aiming another shot. “You’re going to get hurt!”

            Groot stopped dancing fascinated by the colors of the lasers shooting out of Gamora’s gun.  He smiled at the woman, waving as he was happy to see her.

            “Hi.” She smiled back before jetting back into the fray, helpless to the little guy’s charm.

            As Groot goes back to his dance, letting the beat of the song take him over he halts seconds later as he hears Drax fall directly behind him. Groot freezes just like he had done when he was still in his pot. He was afraid of Drax in a sense. He was always so loud and mocked him when he’d dance, saying that he looked as ridiculous as Quill when he danced. Groot knew he was a far better dancer than Peter, Skadi had told him so on multiple occasions.

            The huge man finally moved back into the battle, leaving Groot to happily play. He saw a bug fly past his face and suddenly thinks of a new game to play. He loved dancing but he soon grew bored and now it was at the all most importance to get this bug. Chasing it around, avoiding the chaos that had been going on around him he quickly retrieves the bug and shoves it in his mouth.

            Rocket had seen this after looking to see if Drax had crushed Groot when he landed near him. He’d already gotten yelled at by the others for sneaking Groot with him and would be damned if they ended up being right about Groot being too young to take on missions. He pried open Groot’s mouth with his fingers the moment he touched ground, frantically trying to get the bug out.

            “Spit it out! Spit it out!”

            Rocket hits the back of Groot’s head, forcing him to cough it out. The bug flies crookedly away, one wing mulched. Groot angrily looks up to Rocket, annoyed that he ruined his game.

            “Disgusting!” He shook his head. “Behave!”

            Skadi’s eyes widened as the large repulsive creature began spitting out fire at them. They all backed away, feeling the heat of the flames reaching them. Skadi rushed to put the fires out but couldn’t get close enough due to the monster snapping its sharp teeth at her. Backing away she followed Drax as he was thrown down towards the ground again but this time being released by the Abilisk.

            He crashed right into the speakers playing Peter’s music, destroying it. Skadi landed just as Groot began to ferociously use the destroyed pieces of the stereo to beat Drax as he was down. Glaring down at the tree for his behavior, she reached down and plucked him off the ground. Ripping the piece of metal out of his grasp, she threw it aside.

            “Enough!” She warned, raising an eyebrow at him. She bent down to pick up Peter’s Walkman and placed it in her jacket pocket, zipping it close so it wouldn’t fall out.

            “Are you okay?” She addressed Drax.

            Drax nodded to her question, standing up to glare at the tree who is now sitting comfortably on the blondes shoulder, using her hair to keep him steady. Turning to look back at the Abilisk he growls as they watched Rocket, Quill and Gamora blast at it without effect. Dara had joined the pair on the sidelines as well, seeing as none of their attacks were making a dent.

            “The beast’s hide is too thick to be pierced from the outside.” Drax spoke, both girls nodding in agreement. “I must cut it through from the inside.”

            “Wait what?” Skadi shook her head, not sure if she heard him correctly.

            Before neither girls could get clarification Drax took off, charging at the beast. He allowed himself to jump into its open jaws, causing everyone to stare wide eyed in shock. Quill rushed to Dara and Skadi, ordering to know an explanation.

            “That idiot thinks he can cut the skin from the inside out since _the beast’s hide is too thick to be pierced from the outside_ , idiot.” Dara mimicked, laughing despite Skadi’s unamused face.

            “Why didn’t you try to stop him?” Peter yelled at Dara. Couldn’t she have used her powers to prevent him from jumping into that things mouth? She’s used her powers on Peter before, causing him to trip and fall straight on his face all over the ship.

            Dara was silent not wanting to admit that she hadn’t thought about using her powers to save him. It was his own fault for blindly charging at the beast anyway; Dara didn’t have to make up for his stupidity.

            Peter cursed, studying the creature to try and figure out a way to save Drax and stop the Abilisk from continuing to wipe the floor with them. He reloaded his pistol, shouting out to Gamora. When the assassin moves closer to listen to him speak Peter continued.

            “There’s a cut on its neck! Rocket, get it to look up!” Peter shouted. Before jetting up to join Rocket he turned to Dara and Skadi. “Dara give Gamora a boost. Skadi, please make sure Groot stays put.”

            Skadi rolled her eyes at being left on Groot duty but didn’t mind when she saw how excited Groot was to get to stay with her. His big smile at her caused her to give him one back.

            Dara waited for the okay before helping Gamora. The monster screeches as Quill and Rocket flew overhead, trying to get its attention. Colorful matter flies from its mouth, battering Rocket’s weapon and causing him to drop it. But the creature’s neck was now exposed, revealing the cut on it. Gamora dashes, leaping into the air as she unsheathes Godslayer.

            Dara raises her higher until she’s at the top of the wound. She released her hold when Gamora plunged the weapon into the monster. Gamora fell down, slicing the opening down the length of the creature’s neck. The cut causes the monster to topple over, dyeing moments after Gamora lands gracefully in front of it. As Gamora holsters her sword back when her feet touch the ground, Drax spills out of the wound. He raises his arms up in victory thinking that this was all his doing.

            “Ha-ha!” He bellows. “I have single-handedly vanquished the beast!”

            Landing on either side of Gamora, Peter scoffs at the man while Rocket snorts. Groot hopped off of Skadi’s shoulders racing to Drax, still angry at him for earlier. He picked up a nearby rock, throwing it square at his face.

            More confused than offended, Drax stared at all of their dead-panned looks,

            “What?”

           


	3. Welcome To The Human Race

         

* * *

 

   The Guardians stood around one of the battery cores moments after defeating the giant space monster and pulling Drax up to his feet. The boys stood staring at the core wanting to actually look at what it was they were saving. The girls on the other hand stood off to the side cleaning themselves up from the battle, remembering how the High Priestess’s servant said to look respectable before presenting themselves before her.

            “What are they called again?” Drax asked after finally getting all the goo from being inside the Abilisk off of his skin. He still smelt but there was nothing they could do about that for now, much to their distaste.

            “Anulax Batteries.” Peter answered. He detached his aero-rig, placing it in his knapsack to put away later. He quickly replaced the rig with his trench coat, placing the heavy yet comfortable material on.

            “Harbulary Batteries.” Skadi giggled as Drax mispronounced the name, reaching the two.

            “That’s not even close to what he said.” She teased. She unzipped her pocket, reaching in and pulling out Peter’s Walkman. Handing it gently to her boyfriend she turned to look at Drax again, “How did you even hear that from what he just said?”  

            The Destroyer simply shrugged not understanding what he said wrong, “It is a stupid name regardless of the way you pronounce it.”

            “Well no matter how stupid you think the name is, they’re worth thousands of units and you need to be careful what you say around these people.” Peter warned, looking to Drax and then to Dara and Rocket. He couldn’t trust the three of their mouths if his life depended on it. “These folks are easily offended and the cost of transgression is death.”

            “It is not our fault that they only pick stupid names for everything on this planet.” Drax squinted, again not understanding why Quill always had to explain everything to him multiple times.

            “See that’s the kind of thing you might want to keep to yourself.” Peter muttered, nervously placing an arm around Skadi.

            “Maybe only you, I and Gamora should go.” Skadi deadpanned.

            Unfortunately the others weren’t keen on Skadi’s suggestion, offended that she even offered it in the first place. They all found themselves standing inside the throne room of the enormous golden palace. Ayesha sat before them with her chambermaids and other servants surrounding the Guardians. Ayesha wanted them to understand just how important she was.

            “We thank you, Guardians, for putting your lives on the line. We could not risk the lives of our own Sovereign citizens.” Ayesha spoke sophisticatedly, baring to look upon the scruffy and raggedy group.  She anticipated more especially after ordering her servant to inform them of how she expected their appearance to be. Was this the best they could do? They hadn’t even bowed properly when coming in.

            “Every citizen is born exactly as designed by the community, impeccable, both physically and mentally.” She intended to teach them now, seeing as if it was clear that they didn’t take it upon themselves to research her people. She would show them their mistake of thinking her people weren’t superior than they. “We control the DNA of our progeny, germinating them in birthing pods.”

            “Germinating?” Dara muttered, gagging at the word. “What ever happened to the old fashion way of making babies?” She whispered to Drax, who let out a loud laugh.

            Peter’s eyes widened at seeing Ayesha’s hardened face. Peter shot the Badoon a bewildered look even though he knew she’d just roll her eyes at him. She never took much stock into anything he said. He asked for her to do one thing and she couldn’t even listen to him.

            “We’ve long lost that archaic practice of our ancestors.” The High Priestess asserted eyeing the Badoon gruelingly. “I also was under the impression that you Badoon still didn’t frolic with the opposite sex? Not after the great gender war all those years ago?”

            Dara was forced to bit her tongue as she was ready to lash out at the golden witch for her dig against her people. Gamora stopped her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder giving her the look to not engage as the High Priestess continued her lecture against them.

            “We can’t image the genetic imperfections there are now out in the universe.” She shook her head in repugnance, just at the thought. She looked to Peter and then to Skadi. She knew of them, having done deep research on them all before thinking about allowing none Sovereign onto her planets. She knew the girl was Asgardian after seeing the marking on her arm and after having her most skilled researchers steal the Nova Cores files they had on them.

            How someone with pure Asgardian blood running in their veins could mate with a mutt of a person like Peter Quill deeply disgusted her. She didn’t want to think of it any further, pushing the thought of it in the back of her head. She nodded towards her guards, silently giving the okay to bring out the Guardians payment.

            Two soldiers emerged from the hallway off to the side of the throne with  Nebula, who was hidden by her cloak, wrists bound by shackles. They forcefully shoved the cyborg to her knees, yanking the hood back to confirm to the Guardians that this was who they had come here for. Quill could feel the tension as Nebula glared at Gamora, who in turn glared right back.

            “Family reunion? Yay,” He tried to lighten the mood but only became the new target of Gamora’s glare.

            “I understand she is your sister?” Ayesha addressed Gamora as the green woman roughly picked Nebula up, forcing her to stand.

            “She’s worth no more to me than the bounty on her head and the justice due for her on Xandar.” Gamora made clear, showing no compassion in her voice towards Nebula, hoping to teach her little sister a lesson.

            “Our soldiers apprehended her attempting to steal the batteries. Do with her as you please.” Ayesha waved her off, letting Gamora take her sister out of the throne room.

            “Thank you, High Priestess Ayesha.” Quill bowed his head, again improperly.

            Ayesha stood from her throne, tired of the disrespect from the lot. She couldn’t hid it any longer, she had wanted to know before they were all off her planet for good since she knew she’d not be inviting them back. There had to be a reason why an Asgardian would be with a man like him. From the outside he looked just like an average human, nothing special. Being obsessed with genes and how they worked she needed to know what made him stand out.

            “What is your heritage, Mr. Quill?” She asked, causing him to turn back towards her.

            Peter looked uncomfortable from her question, unaware the thoughts running through her head. He didn’t know that she knew practically everything about them all; he didn’t know she knew he was only half Terran.

            “My mother is from Earth.” He answered politely, not wanting to anger her as they were so close to leaving.

            “And your father?” She pressed not satisfied with his answer.

            “He’s…not from Missouri, that’s all I know.” He shifted his feet, edging back towards the door.

            Skadi glanced at him, having stayed behind with Drax and Rocket with him while Dara helped Gamora take Nebula to the ship. She wished to find the words to get Peter out of the awkward conversation, knowing that his father and mother were touchy subjects. She glared at the Priestess as her golden eyes looked Peter up and down.

            “An unorthodox genealogy.” She nodded, settling with his answer even though she knew she needed to know. “Hybrids always seem to be particularly inefficient.”

            It’s apparent that Quill is trying to not let her words affect him but was failing. He frowned, looking down at the floor which seemed all to interesting all of a sudden. Skadi reached for his hand in order to pull him out of the room. Before the pair could turn to leave Rocket grinned widely at Ayesha.

            “You know, he told me you people were conceited douchebags but that isn’t true at all.” Rocket turned to Quill, winking but again with the wrong eye.

            Though Quill appreciated Rocket randomly deciding to defend him, Peter wished he hadn’t done so now. The Terran and Asgardian hastily shushed Rocket, sending Ayesha an apologetic look.

            “Oh shit, I’m using my wrong eye again, aren’t I?” Rocket cursed, hearing all the gasps in the room. “I’m sorry that was meant to be behind your back”

            Before Rocket could dig them an even deeper hole Drax yanked him away, heading for the door. Peter and Skadi walked a few paces ahead of them, beyond eager to leave this dreaded place and get back to their ship.

            “Count yourself blessed they didn’t kill you.” Drax warned the rodent.

            “You’re telling me.” Rocket snorted, opening his side bag to show what he hid inside them: two Anulax Batteries. “Wanna buy some batteries?”

            The pair shared a laugh, Drax’s causing Skadi to turn to see what they dared to laugh about. Seeing this, Rocket shushed the Destroyer quickly but still let out a few chuckles as he was unable to contain himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an. So how are you guys liking this? Any things you'd want to see happen? Let me know in the reviews please :)


	4. There Ain't No Road Just Like It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you guys think in the comments :)

****

* * *

 

            They all settled back into the Milano after the disaster of a meeting they just had with the Sovereign. Rocket quickly ran on all fours to the cockpit, not wanting to waste any time getting out of the planet’s atmosphere with the batteries.  He knew that they weren’t dumb and would soon realize what he had taken. He wanted to get to the next jump point before they caught up with him.

            Skadi had retreated to her room, which she was now sharing with Peter. It felt weird having to share a room with him at first but soon got used to it and came to like having a space where the two of them could just be alone. It was very rare for the two of them to have any time alone besides when they were sleeping; and even now it seemed that their time together couldn’t even be spent seeing that now Groot insisted he liked their bed better than his and refused to sleep anywhere else.

            They had agreed to take the relationship slowly at first, wanting to make sure this was something they both truly wanted before going in too strong and ruining the friendship they had. Sharing a room was a big step for both of them. Skadi for one, had liked her own space, and was warry on giving that up and Peter who’d never been in any serious relationship in his life wasn’t sure if he could handle this type of commitment. Their worries only lasted only a few weeks though as they soon found out that this was exactly what they wanted.

            They’d been a couple for roughly three months now and Skadi could feel a particular type of tension rising between them. It was a small ship and they enjoyed having their own spot to go to when the others were getting on their nerves but even then they were truly never alone. The first time Peter tried to push their relationship further, the first time he actually pushed to get more intimate with her and she went with it, the mood was instantly killed due to Drax’s loud booming voice right outside their room as he was locked in a loud conversation with Rocket.

            The older man had rejoiced when they said they were going to be together. He knew he was right and that they were in love. He often tried to give the pair advice, even though Peter thankfully ignored it. He even offered to take their shifts to watch Groot, even though the little tree would throw a tantrum if they agreed, just so they could go out on dates while they were docked on a planet for a job.

            Even though the man showed his full support for them it seemed as though every time they tried to have sex the buffoon ruined it somehow. Skadi lost track of the times where either her or Peter would forget to lock their door and Drax would barge in without bothering to knock only to ask them something that could’ve waited until morning or to just see how they were _fairing in their relationship_.

            There was also the time when Peter was left for night duty, having to watch the Milano while the others slept as they headed off in a rush to get to a job. It was the first time Skadi tried to be daring, initiating him first. She checked to make sure everyone else was asleep in their rooms before heading to the cockpit for a few moments alone with her boyfriend. Skadi knew her boldness turned Peter on and the pair would’ve shared their first time together in the cockpit of the Milano.

            “You two are disgusting.” Drax’s monotone voice rang out, making them jump out of their skins. “This type of act belongs in the bedroom. I shall relieve you of your watch should you like to continue.”

            Now it wasn’t always Drax, there were a few times when it was the others who unintentionally ruined their moment; but for the most part it was Drax.

            Skadi had sat on their bed, already laying out a new pair of clothes for her to change into. She frowned as she noticed her favorite black jacket was beginning to wear out, a tear beginning to form under the armpit. Throwing the jacket across the room she tore off the white crop top she wore underneath it. As she was in the process of taking her shirt off, she heard the door open and Peter letting out a whistle.

            She rolled her eyes at him, whipping the shirt at his face. He smirked, letting the fabric fall to the ground before taking his own shirt off as well. Skadi eyed his chest allowing himself to feel confident. He strode towards her, pushing her backwards on the bed before hovering over her.

            “Peter.” She warned, she could hear the others in the common area outside their room. “We can’t.”

            “Why?” Peter groaned, letting his head fall to rest against her shoulder. He knew why and didn’t expect her to answer him back. He instead decided to place a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder before rolling over to lay next to her on his back.

            “You okay?” She asked him, turning to her side to cuddle herself against him, rubbing circles onto his chest.

            “That stuff,” He started, relaxing at her cool touch. “That stuff she said about my father. Who the hell does she think she is?”

            “A High Priestess.” She joked. She nestled as close as she could to him using her hand to hug his torso and wrap a leg around his waist. “Don’t take anything they say seriously Peter. They all have sticks genetically installed up their ass.”

            “I love you.” Peter chuckled at her comment as he gave her forehead a kiss.

            “I love you too.” Skadi beamed up at him.

            She took this moment to be bold again, having held herself back since the night Drax caught the two of them in the cockpit. She promptly pushed herself up and straddled his hips. In one quick movement she unclipped the straps on her bra, revealing herself to him with one raised eyebrow. She could feel Peter’s excitement and brought her body down to rest against his. Engulfing his lips with her own, she let out a soft moan as he ran one hand through her hair while her hand reached to unbutton her pants.

            “I thought you said we couldn’t.” He muttered when she began to attack his neck.

            “We’ll just have to be quiet.” She whispered, sitting back up, making a move to unbuckle his own belt.

            “Oh, I don’t think you’ll be able to once I-,” Peter chuckled but immediately shut himself up at the sound of the door opening.     He grabbed his pillow that lay a few inches above his head and shoved it against Skadi’s chest. “Dude! Come on!”

            Peter cried out as Drax opened the door. Skadi’s pale skin almost looked like it turned a shade of pink as she froze above Peter, hugging the pillow tightly against her chest. She was mortified that once again Drax caught them like this.

            “What?” Drax looked between the pair. “How was I supposed to know you two were about to make love?”

            “The door was closed!” Peter exclaimed, climbing out from underneath Skadi.

            He fixed his belt, shooting his girlfriend an apologetic look before reaching to grab the fresh shirt that laid atop their dresser. He pulled the shirt on while using his free hand to shove Drax out of the room. Peter followed him, closing the door to their room behind him.

            “Dude, you need to stop doing this.” Peter explained for the hundredth time. He led Drax towards the back of the ship, away from the curious ears of Dara, who sat at the table in the room. “You need to knock or something!”

            “But the door was unlocked, surely if you had not wanted me to come in you would’ve locked it. I thought we’ve discussed this Peter.” Drax pointed out. It wasn’t his fault the couple always forgot to lock their door.

            “It doesn’t matter! You can’t just keep barging into our room!” Peter tried to reason, rubbing his temples.

            “An unlocked door is an open door.”

            Peter let out a loud groan, covering his face with his hands. He had no idea how else to put it to the Destroyer. He knew Drax wasn’t stupid but he just couldn’t deal with how airheaded he could be. Drax meant well but Peter didn’t have the patience Skadi had and even hers was dwindling. If Drax walked in on his half naked girlfriend one more time he’d probably shot the man.

            “Quill, I understand now.” Drax nodded, a lightbulb going off in his head. “If you are simply having problems in that field I can assist you. Maybe that is why whenever you two are about to perform the act I feel the need to come to you.”

            “Wow, no!” Peter exclaimed, “No what I need is for you to-,”

            “You do not need to be embarrassed Quill, I was once in your shoes many years ago with my Hovat.” Drax began to launch off into another one of his stories.

            Peter gulped, biting his lip to prevent himself form lashing out at the man beforehand. He knew it took a lot for Drax to talk about his wife and suddenly didn’t have it in him to ask him to stop talking.

            “I first met my beloved at a war rally. Everyone in my village flailed about, dancing. Except one woman. My Hovat. I knew immediately she was the one for me. The most melodic song in the world could be playing, and she wouldn’t even tap her foot. She wouldn’t move a muscle. One might assume she was dead.

            “Upon our wedding night I grew nervous, not wanting to disappoint my beloved in that way and let my nerves get the better of me. But once my Hovat took charge I became-,”

            “Okay! I tried,” Peter through his hands up in defeat. “I can’t hear this. I don’t need a crash course on how to _woo_ a woman, Drax. What I need is some privacy which I can never have on _my_ _own damn ship_ anymore.”

            Before Drax could open his mouth to retort, the sound of an alarm went off throughout the ship. They were being flagged by someone. Peter raced up to the cockpit to see what was happening, looking to Rocket who shrugged meekly, as if he was hiding something. He looked to press the raccoon for answers.

            “Why do we have armed Sovereign ships approaching us?”


	5. Friday Night Trouble Bound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for disappearing :(   
>  I honestly just felt no motivation to write for this story for a little while. I feel like I'm writing this for no one lol. But I'm gonna keep writing cause it's fun and I do have a story I want to tell :) Though, I would love to hear from you guys in the comments.

* * *

 

Gamora knew she shouldn’t have been caught off guard by the blaring alarms the moment they rang throughout the Milano. She was used to nearly every mission they took on ending with some sort of mishap. The former assassin ignored her sister’s shit-eating grin as she finished securing her to a nearby pipe; the last thing she needed was her sister escaping and running rampant through the ship. She joined the boys above, hastily taking her seat as she began to review the data pad herself. She knew their meeting hadn’t gone well but did they piss off the High Priestess enough to attack them?

            “Why would they do this?” She asked looking up to Peter, hoping he had some  sort of idea since he had stayed in the throne room a few minutes longer than she had.

            Peter shrugged having as much of an answer as Gamora. Even Rocket was silent as he flew the ship away from the following Sovereign pods. Peter looked towards the rodent expecting him to make some snarky remark about their situation like he’d usually do. The Terran’s suspicions rose when he called out Rocket’s name only to be met with more silence.

            “Rocket? What did you do?!” He tried again, this time more forcefully.

            “Nothing!” Rocket shouted, sounding all too guilty.

            Rocket ignored Peter’s hard stares and he knew that even Gamora was giving him her own set of daggers as well. He kept his attention on piloting the Milano and deciding to ignore Gamora as she too began to question him. The batteries were strategically hidden on his person; hidden in a place he’d rather not say. They couldn’t prove he did anything as long as he kept his mouth shut.

            “Rocket stole some of their batteries.” Drax cut in oblivious to Rocket’s wishes of keeping that a secret.

            Quill and Gamora looked astounded. Their faces hardened as they stared at Rocket. They both knew their furriest companion was a selfish little thief but to do something this stupid? They thought more of him than this. Rocket looked between the pair, feeling their judgment wash over him. His only reaction was gawking at Drax. He felt betrayed and annoyed. His small head wiped so quickly back that Drax was certain the little creature would break his neck.

            “Dude! She wasn’t asking you!”

            “Oh right,” Drax nodded, as if realizing his mistake. “He didn’t steal those. I don’t know why they are after us. What a mystery this is.”

            Skadi had just excited her bedroom in a fresh pair of clothes, curious as to why their alarm was going off. Dara sat, still pouting from Ayesha’s words, at the table. The two girls shared a questioning look, silently asking the other what happened. Dara shrugged, knowing as much as the younger girl did. The Badoon had heard the other’s yelling upstairs and now as Gamora was yelling at Rocket for something, Dara settled on it being Rocket’s fault.

            Seeing as Dara was no help, Skadi moved to walk up the stairs to find out herself. She didn’t make it very far as the ship jerked to the side, causing Skadi to stagger backwards off of the steps. Dara was also knocked from her spot, angrily cussing as she used the palms of her hand to reach out. Using her powers, she prevented the objects in the room from flying off the shelves as the ship continued to toss and turn. She could hear things crash and falling in the other rooms and groaned. What could have possibly gone wrong this time?

            Huffing, Skadi left Dara and floated over the steps ensuring herself not to fall off them again.

            “What the hell is going on?” She shouted once she reached the cockpit.

            “Rocket stole some of their batteries.” Drax informed her.

            Skadi froze, remembering back in Ayesha’s throne room. She remembered hearing Rocket snickering to Drax about something and them both growing silent the moment she caught them. “Was that what you two were laughing about?”  Skadi gapped at Rocket. She turned to look at Drax next, clearly still annoyed about earlier and now finding out about this. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

            “I was going to before but you two yelled at me for entering your room.” Drax spoke calmly.

            Skadi gapped at him, speechless at the Destroyer. _The one time he had something of importance to tell them,_ she thought. Her attention was brought back to Rocket as the Milano was hit by one of the pod’s lasers.

            “Well this is just great, Rocket! You couldn’t keep your grimy little paws of things that aren’t yours for one day?” She screamed at him.

            “Oh please you wanted to totally punch them in the face with how they were talking to your boyfriend over there! Don’t go acting all high and mighty with me, princess!” Rocket yelled back at her. “They shouldn’t have been that easy to steal! I’m teaching that High Priestess a lesson!”

            “That’s seriously your defense?” Gamora pipped up. She hurriedly tapped away on her data pad, trying to pinpoint the nearest jump point. They could no longer wait for the one they originally were going to take to Xandar.

            “Oh no, Gamora I see what he means; I didn’t realize your motivation was altruism. A shame the Sovereign have mistaken your intentions and are trying to kill us.” Quill deadpanned, sounding completely sarcastic.

            “Exactly.” Rocket agreed, letting Peter’s tone go over his head.

            “I was being sarcastic!” Peter shouted, dodging another blast from a Sovereign ship.

            “Oh no!” the raccoon bawled, “You’re supposed to use a sarcastic voice! Now I look foolish.”

            “You already did.” Skadi grumbled, gripping onto the back of Peter’s chair in order to not be tossed around the cavern.

            Drax pointed at Rocket, bellowing at Skadi’s joke. He held onto his stomach as he laughed causing Gamora to grumble as she was trying to focus on her work. All of the systems where going haywire from the Sovereigns attacks.

            “Drax, you shut it!” Skadi hissed, turning her head to scowl at him coldly. She was still furious at him and was not in the mood.  “This is just as much as your fault as it is his!”

            “I’ve already explained that I was going to tell you.”

            “Yes, but you’ve should’ve said something before we boarded the ship!”

            “Can we please just put the bickering on hold until after we get out of this?” Gamora pleaded, knowing Skadi would listen and hopefully that would be enough to stop Drax and Rocket from engaging with each other.

            “More incoming!” Peter shouted, eyeing another fleet approaching them from the front.

            Rocket yelled out as he aimed and opened fire at the ships, wanting to let off some steam. He took down multiple ships, his shouts getting louder with each one exploding. After being berated by his teammates all he wanted to do was kill something.

            Gamora rolled her eyes at the raccoon. Now that she thought about it she honestly wasn’t surprised by his actions today. Unlike the others aboard the ship, Rocket hadn’t yet done any maturing since the Guardians formed. He was still the hot-headed, kleptomaniac fool he was when they all first met.  He never thought before he acted, always making everything harder for the others and then twisted it on them like it was there fault.

            “You aren’t killing anyone. Those ships are all remotely piloted.” She huffed.

            The Milano twisted and turned in the air, making Skadi wonder how Dara was holding up. She pushed past Drax, shoving his arm with her shoulder as she did. Carefully walking down the steep steps, Skadi peered into the room looking for their Badoon friend. Skadi grew nervous when she saw no sight of her. Jumping off the last step before being thrown off as the ship suffered another hard blow Skadi ran through the room noting all the fallen objects.

            She finally saw her knocked out on the floor. Skadi rushed to her side checking her over quickly for any injuries. There was only a small gash across her right eyebrow but it was nothing serious. She gently shook Dara, trying to wake her up. The Badoon rustled in her sleep eventually batting her eyes open.

            “You okay?” Skadi asked, helping her up.

            Dara nodded, holding her head as it pounded. She had been it tossed across the ship and lost her concentration. All the objects she had been holding fell to the floor as she had been wacked across the head with one of Rocket’s tools.

            “How many times do I have to tell that little bastard to clean his shit up?!” Dara shouted, making sure they could hear her up in the cockpit.

            It was then when all of the emergency systems flashed on as one of their wings were climbed. They had entered a Quantum Asteroid field in an attempt to reach the new jump point quicker and too loose the fleet chasing after them. Neither wanting to give the controls up, Peter and Rocket kept taking them over from the other. The Milano rocked harder as it was brought to every which way as the two men couldn’t agree on who was going to pilot them out of there.

            In the middle of their squabble an asteroid had appeared right near them, crashing into the ship and taking out one of their wings. The ship lurched to the side as Peter tried to steady it. They felt another asteroid hit them again but taking out the back of their ship.

            Skadi and Dara were pulled backwards from the force of the atmosphere. They couldn’t stop themselves as they were flung passed Nebula who would’ve met the same fate but sooner, had she not been cuffed to the pipe. It wasn’t as if the cyborg wasn’t in distress though. The girl screamed as she was being dragged up into the air, her wrist feeling as if they were on fire as they pulled against the cuffs by the force of space.

            Peter had put the emergency shield on just in time, seeing the security feed on his dashboard down below. He gasped as he saw Skadi and Dara nearly be sucked out into space and let out a sigh of relief when they crashed against the shield. Both girls wheezed as their backs hit the shield only to fall back to the ground out of breathe. They willed the ships artificial oxygen back into their lungs as they just laid on their stomachs for the next few minutes.

            They didn’t move until hearing footsteps approaching them. Looking up they saw Drax with one of Rocket’s large blasters. He looked down at the three girls, asking if they were alright.

            “What do you think?” Dara croaked out, her voice still dry from the air nearly being sucked out of her.

            “Can you stand?” Drax asked next.

            Dara nodded, sitting up on her knees to look up at him questionably as the man grabbed a cable from the spool attached to the wall. He hooked the cable to his belt along with grabbing a disk like piece of metal that hung near the wall.

            “I would do so.” He spoke, helping both girls to their feet.

            He made sure they was near Nebula before slapping the disk onto his back, a shimmering force field covering his body. He punched the code into the keypad on the wall as well. A second protection shield appears, separating him from the other girls. Skadi and Dara look at him questionably as he opened the other shield, exposing him to space.

            The girls stared awestruck as Drax hopped out of the ship and was now being dragged chaotically by the Milano. The last Sovereign ship shot wildly at Drax. One of the blasts managed to actually hit inside of the ship but thankfully hit the protective barrier. It still made the girls nervous as the shield looked as if it glitched out for a second.

            Drax screamed out, shooting the Sovereign ship once he finally steady himself on the tether. The Milano finally exited the field only to be met with more Sovereign ships who had went around the field. Skadi could see as they all took fire upon their ship. They were all going to die.

            “We need to pull him in!” Skadi shouted rushing to reach the control panel to open the barrier.

            “Don’t you dare!” Dara used her powers to hold her back. “You open the barrier and we’re going to get sucked out.”

             Drax had left all the space suits on the opposite side of the barrier. It was a poor design which Dara would have to bring up to Rocket later if they made it out of this alive. They couldn’t close the last barrier either because it would only cut Drax’s line and then they would lose him in space. Skadi tried to fight against Dara’s hold.

            They had to do something. They couldn’t just watch as their companion was left out there defenselessly as the Sovereign rained down a hell storm upon them. She fought harder against the Badoon, remembering their recent training sessions. Dara had helped the young girl get more confident in her gifts, wanting to push her further and further. She needed to make sure the girl could control her powers more in a sense of learning her full capabilities.

            Dara had soon wished she hadn’t though the moment she could feel a cold snip entire her body. Skadi frowned, telling Dara to let her go and she wouldn’t go any further. Dara refused, not wanting to be killed trying to save the grey moron. Skadi pushed Dara’s body temperature lower, making sure to be careful as she did so as she didn’t truly want to cause any serious damage.

            “I’m going to kill you if you don’t stop Hunt!” Dara screeched, slamming the girl down to the ground.

            “Ow! What the hell!” Skadi yelled back.

            Nebula watched as the two girls went back and forth, pushing the other into a deeper rage. Rolling her eyes, she couldn’t believe these were the types of people her sister kept in her company now. How far her sister had fallen; Nebula stood by her side as they fought alongside warriors strong, noble and honorable whereas now she scoffed as these _Guardians of the Galaxy._

            The girls lost their hold upon each other when the ship entered the jump point roughly. All of the ships firing at them had suddenly stopped for reasons unknown to them. They didn’t really care as now they were able to get away. Though the escape wasn’t in any way steady. The shape the Milano was left in caused it to spiral out of control the moment it hit the skyline of whatever planet Peter and Rocket managed to get them too.

            Skadi gasped as she saw Drax being whipped around as they descended. The cable spool beginning to ripped out of the wall. Without hesitation Skadi rushed to the control panel opening the barrier. Dara hadn’t yet made a move to help much to Skadi’s annoyance.

            “You’ll never change!” Skadi shouted to the Badoon.

            Dara was taken aback by her words, knowing Skadi to only speak to someone like that when all her buttons where pushed. Usually Dara would feel like it was a job well done but now she only felt a pang of guilt wash over her. She watched as Gamora had now entered the room, seeing their little spat from the security footage above. Without hesitation she ran to grab hold of the spool, using all her strength and might to hold on.

            It wasn’t enough for the moment they began to touch down and barrels against the treetops. Gamora held on, not letting Drax suffer alone at he is slammed against nearly every tree branch they hit. Dara sees Gamora’s hold on the ship loosen, gravity willing her to let go of Drax. Gamora screamed out from the searing pain. Standing abruptly she reached her hands out towards the pair, grasping them tightly mentally. She hadn’t let go until she felt the ship make one final lurch as the ground slammed them to a stop. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching metal of the ship falling apart and her fellow Guardians groans as the adrenaline wore off.

            When everything began to settle, the smoking, demolished Milano sat in the middle of nowhere as the Guardians begrudgingly began to file out. Drax, who had been the only one who still hadn’t come down from his high, still laughed and cheered.

            “That was awesome!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK IN THE COMMENTS :)


	6. And There's No Peace Of Mind

* * *

 

            The Zen-Whoberi was beside herself. She couldn’t process what had just happened to them. Their ship, their home, everything they worked for in the last three months had just been destroyed right before their eyes because of stupidity. She’d never had to experience this while working for Thanos; he would have not tolerated this in the slightest. Gamora didn’t even know how to address this situation but knew she’d be the one who would have too since everyone else stood quietly. They were stuck on an unfamiliar planet, no ship and with her sister still in tow. The moment the one wing they had left broke off from the ship and crashed to the ground Gamora let herself snap.

            “Look at this!” She shouted, motioning to the fallen ship. “Either one of you could have gotten us out of that field if you had flown with what’s between your ears instead of what’s between your legs!”

            She pointed between both Rocket and Peter, chastising them like they were children. Rocket rolled his eyes at the taller woman, not taking anything she said seriously.

            “If what’s between my legs had a hand on it, I guarantee that I could’ve landed this ship.” Peter muttered, ignoring Gamora’s ruthless look on her face.

            “Peter,” Skadi warned, knowing that this situation was only about to get worse.

            “No!” He looked at her and then to Gamora, “We didn’t almost just die because of me! How about we almost died because this little bastard stole Anulax Batteries!”

            “They’re called Harbulary Batteries.” Drax corrected.

            “No, they’re not!” Peter whipped his body around to face Drax.

            Peter was already fuming by the time Rocket opened his big trap to taunt him again. He seethed as the raccoon’s sharp voice made its way to his ears.

            “Awe, is the little Star-Munch upset?”

            “I’m not responding to Star-Munch.” He grumbled, trying to ignore him and faced Gamora ready to address a way out of this.

            “You just did.” Dara laughed at Quill contradicting himself.

            “Seriously?” Skadi yelled, shoving Dara away from her since they had still been standing together. “What’s wrong with you?”

            Dara raised her eyes at the smaller girl and with a flick of her wrist shoved her backwards into a tree that was a few feet back. Peter narrowed his eyes at her, gripping his blasters out of anger.

            “Really? You’re going to shot me for giving her exactly what she dealt out?” Dara crossed her arms, not at all threatened by the Terran or Asgardian.

            “Enough!” Gamora stepped between the two, squaring them down and daring them to make a move against each other.

            Peter licked the top of his teeth, willing himself to walk away. Dara was just messing with him. She wouldn’t attack unless he did and then it’d be his fault and he’d end up being the one to suffer Gamora’s wrath. He walked past them making his way to Skadi. He helped her up and put a protective arm around her shoulders.

            “This is real nice. Some Guardians we are.” Rocket spat at the ground. “We should be talking about that little man that saved us by blowing up fifty ships!”

            “How little?” Drax asked, having not seen the ship that had ended up saving them.

            “Eh, like this.” Rocket held up his index finger and thumb, holding them an inch apart.

            “How can a man be that little? That is impossible!” Drax bent down to get to eye level with Rocket’s fingers. He was amazed that someone could be that small and take out a fleet of ships.

            “Well I’m sure if he got closer he’d be much larger.” Rocket shrugged.

            “That’s how eye sight works, you stupid raccoon.” Peter said miffed.

            “What did I say about calling me that!” the fur on Rocket’s neck stuck up in anger.

            Peter pretended to be sorry. He held his free hand up in defense before placing it against his chest, “Oh I’m sorry, I meant to say trash panda.”

            Rocket paused, unsure what this meant. No one had ever called him that before and he was unsure what a panda was. He looked around for help, stopping at Drax as if he of all people would know. Of course he didn’t and shook his head as he too never heard of the word panda before.

            “Rocket!” Skadi exclaimed, amazed at how stupid he had been acting that day. “One: Peter’s clearly being sarcastic and two: it had the word trash in it! How could you think that that’s not worse than being called a raccoon?”

            “You son of a b-,” Rocket leaps, snapping his teeth at Quill.

            Gamora groaned as Rocket launched at Peter, snapping his teeth at him. She gripped her hips tightly as if the tighter she squeezed the more her anger would diminish. Ignoring the two boy’s arguing back and forth, Gamora only could give Skadi an annoyed look. Why did the girl have to say anything? Couldn’t she have just left well enough alone?

            Gamora’s train of thought was interrupted by her sister, who had creeped up next to her. Nebula looked up to the sky, having been the only one who had been paying attention to their surroundings. “Someone followed you through the jump point.”

            The assassin snapped her head up, following her younger sister’s gaze. Sure enough, Nebula had told the truth whereas Gamora was ready for this to be a failed attempt at a distraction. Gamora watched, prepared to grab her Godslayer and attack whoever came out of the white oval ship that was descending above the tree lines. Gamora was glad that Nebula’s words didn’t only reach her own ears. The rest of the Guardians filled up next to her either weapons in hand or powers ready to use.

            “Set me free. You’ll need my help, these fools have only proven themselves useless.” Nebula pleaded, trying to pull her wrist apart. She did not trust her sister’s new companions to protect themselves, let alone her; she refused to die because of these morons.

            “I’m not stupid Nebula.” Gamora paid her no mind, staring up at the ship.

            “You are if you deprive yourself an extra hand in combat.”

            “You’ll attack me the moment I let you go.”

            “No I won’t.”

              Dara snorted at the pair, amused by their banter.

            “You know for an evil super villain you’re a shit liar.” Dara smirked at the blue alien to her left.

            “I bet it’s the one inch man!” Drax exclaimed as the ship landed, completely oblivious to the conversation taking place next to him.

            The ship crashed down to the forest floor gently. Trees crunched as it took its place atop them.  The ship itself was shiny white with yellow, almost liquid like windows. What appeared to the Guardians was the bay door. It showed two blurry shadows in the shape of people. This eased their nerves slightly seeing as this ship looked nothing like those of the Sovereign.  Nevertheless, they still held their guard up as the bay door dispersed into the doorway.

            An older man appeared, his clothes looking rugged and warn but still the material looked as if someone with high stature would wear it. His face was warm and held a wide smile as he let his eyes glance over all of them. Next to him stood a girl appearing to be around Skadi’s age. She looked nervous, holding her hands to her chest and unable to keep eye contact with any of them for longer than a few seconds. She had antenna’s on her head with caught the eyes of everyone, especially Drax for he had never seen an alien with them before.

            “After all these years, I’ve finally found you.” The man spoke obviously addressing Peter.

            Peter tensed, unsure why he was staring him up and down. He had no clue who this man was. Did he rip him off years ago on a job? Was he finally back to get his revenge? Did he owe him money? He knew there were a few bounties out on him on some planets but he thought Nova took care of them all.

            “And who the hell are you?” Peter asked, letting his voice conceal his worries.

            “I figured our similar good looks would’ve made that obvious.” The man chuckled before continuing. “My name is Ego and I’m your dad Peter.”

           


	7. Wish I Knew What You Were Looking For

* * *

 

            It had been hours after their first introduction to Ego. The old man had urged Peter to hear him out much to his alleged son’s skepticism. Peter didn’t know this man from a hole in the wall but didn’t want to risk fighting him just yet; he wasn’t sure what he and his bug lady companion were capable off. His team was agitated and clearly drained from the day they just had; they weren’t in any condition to fight if turning away Ego would turn into one.

            Gamora backed Peter up on this choice unlike Rocket, who wanted to blow him up into a million little pieces and steal his ship. The raccoon acknowledged his help and thanked him in his own way, which consisted of telling him to not let the door hit him on the way out. Gamora on the other hand agreed that they shouldn’t trust him off the bat. She was thankful for his help as well but it was all too convenient for him to find them the moment they were about to be blown up into space. She agreed with Peter; they should at least hear him out, give them all time to rest and deal with him in the morning.

            The three had used the excuse of examining the damage to the ship as a cover to discuss what they should do about Ego. Skadi wanted to curse them for leaving her alone with him and the rest of the Guardians. Ego offered his assistance but Peter assured him that they didn’t need it. Skadi could tell Ego pretended to brush it off as if it was fine but his eyes showed how irritated he was.

            Drax excused himself to go find them fire wood to begin preparing them all dinner. Skadi was going to offer to go with him but Dara beat her to it, pushing past the Asgardian with little care. Gamora quietly reminded her that someone had to stay and watch Nebula and keep Ego distracted, so reluctantly Skadi stood attempting to make small talk with the man. Thankfully it was like Ego could tell she wasn’t good at making conversation and spoke first.

            “So I take it you’re Skadi?” He smiled at her, sitting down on a fallen tree.

            Skadi cautiously sat down across from him. Nebula had already been sitting down pouting and looked up in annoyance as the girl sat next to her. Skadi ignored her though, turning to look at Ego and his companion, who still stood behind him.

            “Yeah, that would be me.” She smiled back, trying to be polite at least. He did help them after all and she did feel sort of bad with how cold Gamora came off and how rude Rocket was. If Ego was truly Peter’s father she didn’t want him to think poorly of them all. “Sorry about them, it’s been a really long day. They’re all just tired.”

             “You don’t have to apologize, I understand how stressful the life of heroes can be.” Ego nodded, accepting her apology.

            “Ha, we’re not heroes.” Skadi snorted, “We couldn’t even save ourselves today.”

            “Everyone has bad days.” Ego’s voice was light and comforting to Skadi’s ears. It almost reminded her of how Peter would talk to her when they were alone. “Did you not save an entire planet from Ronan? That sounds pretty heroic to me.” Ego winked at her, not giving her a minute to disagree with him.

            “I also heard that you’re dating my son.” Ego spoke again, only letting there to be a silence between them last for a minute or two.

            Skadi was caught off guard by his question. Granted they didn’t hide their relationship in the slightest but they didn’t go out of their way and shout it out to the galaxy. Even Ayesha knew, which had struck Skadi as odd. Why would she even care to know?

            “Um yeah, me and Peter are.” She almost whispered, somewhat embarrassed for no reason she could think off.

            “And you’re Asgardian as well?” He asked. He noted her grow almost nervous by his questions and gave her the warmest smile he could muster. “Sorry if it seems I’m being nosey. I just really want to get to know my son more and if you’re an important part of his life, I would hope to get to know you better as well.”

            She noted that Ego’s eyes scanned over her body as he spoke. She felt slightly uncomfortable but at the same time she felt at ease with him. She could see the yearning in his eyes. If he really wasn’t Peter’s father then he was a great actor. She could just tell that he wanted Peter in his life and that he couldn’t be lying.

            “It’s alright,” She smiled, letting herself break down her walls and open up to him.

              Once everyone was settled and set around the fire eating Ego finished up telling Skadi his story about the first time he met an Asgardian and snuck into Asgard. She was at the edge of her seat listening, wanting to know all she could about her people that she didn’t even notice Peter sitting next to her, or Gamora and Rocket joining them either.

            “Angelica was one of the fiercest warriors I’ve ever met.” Ego finished, turning to look at Peter with a smile. His eyes went back to Skadi for a moment. “Asgard is really a beautiful place. I’d like to help you go see it one day, if I could.”

            Peter stared at Ego firmly, not sure if he liked how quickly he gotten his hooks into Skadi. Peter didn’t want to admit it but Skadi usually was easy to win over. She had warmed up to Gamora easily back in the Kyln and same with Dara and Drax. Granted, it worked well for them all in the end but Skadi was too trusting.

            Peter caught Gamora’s eye. She too was warry of the new apparent friendship between Ego and Skadi. There was something off about the man and she already voiced her opinions to Peter about it. Her gut was telling her they shouldn’t trust him. Peter knew Gamora was always an excellent judge of character and he wouldn’t take her warnings lightly.           He tried to ignore the kid in him telling him not to though because this could be his one chance to meet his father. For years and years he had dreamt of this moment, to finally meet the man his mother praised for years but he had to be smart. He decided he’d have to be careful but he would indeed at least hear what he had to say for himself.

             “When your mother passed away, I hired Yondu to bring you too me. I would have done so myself but I was in the middle of something important at the time.” Ego explained later on in the night, noting Peter’s slight look of disappointment. “I’m not saying you aren’t important, I was just called upon by the Spartoi Empire. They needed help battling some cosmic force to save the dimension or some nonsense like that. I honestly can’t recall, all my adventures start to bleed together after all these years but regardless Yondu never brought you too me. He kept you and I have no clue as to why.” Ego sighed, looking at Peter pitifully.

            Quill almost grunted at his look of pity, remembering the years of Yondu forcing him into being a Ravager and helping him with his dirty work. “I can tell you why; because I was a scrawny little kid who could squeeze into places adults couldn’t, making it easier for thieving.”

            “Well, I’ve been trying to track you down ever since.” Ego took another spoonful of the blue gelatin like soup Drax had made for them. As he spoke he gave Peter another sympathetic look.

            “I thought Yondu was your father?” Drax butted in, also shoving another spoonful into his mouth.

            Rocket laughed, along with Dara, shaking their heads at their friend. Skadi looked up from her bowl to give Drax a confused look, crunching her nose up in question.        

            “What?” Peter asked, bewildered. “We’ve been together for three months and all this time you thought Yondu was my actual blood relative?”

            “You look exactly alike.” Drax nodded his head, continuing to stuff his face.

            “One’s blue!” Rocket exclaimed, mimicking Skadi’s facial expression.

            “No! He’s not my father!” Peter raised his voice slightly, slowly becoming overwhelmed by the topic of fathers. “Yondu was the guy who abducted me. He’d beat the crap out of me so I’d learn how to fight and kept me in terror by threatening to eat me!”

            “Eat you?” It was Ego’s time to be appalled. He angrily dropped his spoon into the bowl, his body clearly tensed. “That son of a bitch!”

            “How’d you locate us now? If you’d been trying to track him down for years, why was it now that you just found him?” Gamora cut in. She was sick of the show Ego was putting on, reading right through all his looks of concern and disappointment. She wouldn’t let Peter’s emotions distract him from asking important questions.

            Ego looked towards her, trying to hide his distaste for the woman who had been nonstop questioning every move he made. He’d try to be nice to her like he had been trying with all of his son’s friends. He just wanted to get his son’s trust and if that meant putting up with his friend’s constant attempts to sway Peter away, he would.

            “Well I reside out past of what’s known.” He began, facing Peter again. “It’s only whenever I ever venture out that I hear the news of the galaxy. Of course, right after Yondu took you, he decided to keep a low profile, sending his old first mate off his to handle a lot of his dealings and such. He knew I’d find him otherwise.

            “It wasn’t until about ten or so years back did I pick up a trace of him again. It was back when I’m assuming he found you.” Ego motioned to Skadi, giving her a gentle smile. “I heard that he went to the Kree, bought a girl who had some sort of amazing powers in order to join his crew and part of the payment for her was giving them you, Peter.” He again faced his son.

            “I spent years searching all Kree territories. No one had any trace of you. The sellers who sold your friend to Yondu swore that they didn’t take you but at the time I thought they were lying. The Kree would use kids from other races as servants or in their big arena fights they held as a way to warm up the crowds, pitting them against much more bigger opponents.”

            Skadi and Peter shared a nervous glance when Ego spoke. That wasn’t what happened at all. Yondu did technically buy Skadi but he never even bought Peter when he did. Peter was never allowed to step foot on any Kree territory until he was old enough and strong enough to protect himself; Yondu knew damn well what the Kree did to the children they kidnapped.

            Skadi had been bought by Yondu from her former master, Hala, a member of the Kree Empire’s Accusers Corps. Yondu had first taken interest in her when he’d reluctantly taken a job from Hala. He saw her powers when Hala had shown her off proudly to him and thought Hala was putting the girl to waste. She wasn’t meant to be scrubbing floors and in fitting pits on the weekends; Yondu could use the girl to help with big scores and couldn’t also help but take pity on the girl.

            It took a lot of sweat talking and a decent amount of units, but eventually Yondu convinced Hala to sell Skadi to him. At first the young girl who still hadn’t had a real name yet was afraid to leave, feeling as if it was one of Hala’s tricks. Hala wasn’t the kindest woman, constantly trying to set her servants up to fail for any reason to justify the cruel things she did to them. Skadi was afraid that she agreed to leave Hala would find her again and punish her for it; Yondu had promised her otherwise. He promised that she would never find her again and so far Yondu had kept that promise.  

            “It was only a few weeks ago did I finally hear tell of the man they call Star-Lord.” Ego once again spoke, snapping Skadi and Peter out of their thoughts. “I’d love to show you where I’m from, Peter. What about we head out that way now? I promise you, it’s like no place you’ve ever seen. There I can explain your very special heritage and finally be the father I’ve always wanted to be.”

            Ego could tell that Peter was hesitant, frowning as he saw the blonde girl reached out to grip his son’s hand. Peter gripped it tightly, still pondering over Ego’s words. Fighting the urge to outwardly groan and roll his eyes, Ego stood with a wide smile at the pair.

            “You’re associates are more than welcome.” He offered with a nod. He decided to give them a moment to think it over, “Excuse me, I’m gonna go take a whizz.”

            The moment he was out of ear shot, Peter turned skeptically to Gamora, narrowing his eyes at her. Her facial expression confirmed his doubt, she wasn’t believing anything this man said either. He agreed, pushing away the eight year old kid that would blindly go with Ego.

            “I’m not buying it.” He muttered.

            “Why don’t we go take a walk?” Skadi whispered, seeing the glances Gamora and Peter exclaimed. She knew Gamora usually knew best but this was Peter’s chance to finally find the man she knew he desperately wanted in his life. For once, the Asgardian felt like it’d be best to ignore Gamora.

            Before Gamora could speak again, Skadi pulled Peter up, giving her a look that told her to butt out. Not letting go of his hand, Skadi dragged him deeper into the forest, wanting to get out of earshot. She could feel the tension rising off of him as he took a few steps ahead of her. Skadi looked backwards, still able to see the campfire flickering through the trees.

            “Give me a break! After all this time and he just expects I’ll let him be my Dad all of a sudden?” Peter exclaimed.

            Skadi quickly shushed him, still warry of being overheard.  She motioned back to the campsite, motioning with her hands to lower his voice.

            “This could be a trap.” He whispered, his face still scrunching up.

            “I know-,”

            “The Kree purists, the Ravagers, now the Sovereign. They all want us dead.”

            “I know, but-,”

            “But what?” Peter snapped, immediately softening his face. He didn’t mean to snap at her and he knew she didn’t take it to heart but he just didn’t know how to feel at the moment.

            “Do you remember that story you once told me? About the man Zardu Hasselfrau?” Skadi began, only to trail off as she searched Peter’s face

            “Who?” he narrowed his eyes, just as lost as she was.

            “The guy with the magical boat?”

            “David Hasselhoff?”

            “Yeah him!”

            “He had a talking car, not a magical boat.” Peter huffed, crossing his arms against his chest, as if he was offended she didn’t know who David Hasselhoff was.  

            “Why did it talk again?” She questioned, staring up at him with questioning eyes.

            “I don’t remember, he just did.” Peter shrugged, letting his arms fall back to his sides before motioning to her to get to the point. “What does this have to do with anything?”

            “Because,” She started with a long sigh, “You told me that as a child you carried his picture in your pocket and you told the other kids that he was your father, but he was never home because-,”

            “He was busy shooting Knight Rider and touring with his band in Germany.” Peter finished too embarrassed of her saying it out loud. “Why do you have to bring that up now? I was drunk when I told you that.”

            Skadi smiled sweetly up at him. She adored him when he was embarrassed; he always acted so confident and tough around her and too see him shifting from side to side like a shy little kid was cute. It was only in rare moments like the time he had gotten drunk and she had to help him back to Milano from a bar years ago did he really open up about his childhood. It was a side of him she only saw and she loved it.

            “I wish I had stories like that.” She admitted as her answer.

            Peter’s face softened as she finished, feeling guilty. It was true, Skadi never did share any stories about her past with him. She didn’t really have any she cared to tell. Peter never really thought about it but there was so much about her he didn’t know and probably would never know. She was very closed off about her past, or well what she remembered of it.

            Skadi never told him about her time with Hala and she couldn’t remember much but small glances from anything before that. She had no idea where she came from, how she got to where she was and had no idea if she ever would know. She’d kill to be able to share anything with Peter in the moments he’d open up about his time with his mom or on Earth. It was something she was forever jealous of him for.

            “You don’t want stories like that.” He frowned, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. “I was so sad as a kid because I’d see my classmates off playing catch with their dads and I wanted that more than anything in the world.”

            “Yeah but at least you had your mother, I had no one. I’d take wanting a father over what I’d been through.” Skadi frowned shrugging his hand off. She wasn’t mad at him, she just wished he saw how lucky he was. But then again, he did watch his mother die only to be abducted moments later. She wouldn’t want those stories to tell.

            “What I’m trying to say is,” she shook her head, taking his hands in hers, “This man could be your Hasselhoff. I know Gamora already doesn’t trust him, but I do. He seemed so eager to talk to you and to happy that he found you. I- I know I’ve only just met him and I could be wrong but this could be your chance and I know I’d give anything for a chance to find out more about me. I don’t want you to miss your shot.”

            Grudgingly, Peter nodded understanding what she was saying was true. He didn’t want to pass this up and forever be regretting his decision if he did. Peter was just afraid that it was a trap. He didn’t want to risk Skadi or the other getting sucked into a trap if that was what this really was.

            “Hey, if he ends up being evil, we have four crazy psychos who can kill him.” Skadi chuckled, placing a tender hand on his cheek to get him to look her in the eyes.  “And you have a girlfriend who will kick his ass if he decides to try and hurt you.”

            Peter laughed with her as she said this before pulling her close. He placed his hand over hers, tugging her up onto her tiptoes to kiss her lips. Their kiss was long as they held each other close, both savoring their last few moments of peace before reluctantly rejoining the others by the campfire. Peter held onto her hand tightly as they appeared out from the trees. He looked at Ego hopefully, silently praying that he really was his Hasselhoff.


	8. You Would Never Break The Chain

* * *

 

Gamora was less than thrilled when Peter informed them that he’d be going with Ego. She wanted to scream the moment the words left his lips. She wanted to launch herself at him, grab him and shake some sense into him. Even with Skadi; she wanted to curse the girl for falling into Ego’s tricks. Gamora knew she had no proof that he was in fact trying to trick them but she was trained to pick out lairs and deceivers.

            She tried to talk more sense into Peter when everyone else went off to sleep. Ego and his companion who they now knew went by the name Mantis had went off to sleep in their ship. Ego knew they had nowhere to go and had no need to watch them over night but Gamora still felt like they had just became prisoners to him.

            Peter wanted to hear no more from her, ordering them to get some sleep. The Zen-Whoberi was persistent though, asking Skadi for a word in private. The girl knew she was in trouble and declined. Gamora would have to either say what she wanted to in front of everyone else as they set up their sleeping bags or drag her off. Skadi knew Gamora wouldn’t make that much of a scene and wasn’t surprised when the woman stomped off into the forest to get away from them.

            The morning came all too quick for them all. Each groaning out the kinks in their muscles from sleeping on the forest floor. They had all been indeed spoiled by sleeping on the nice beds the Nova Core installed into their rooms. Rocket was grumpier than usual, declining Peter’s invitation to go with them to see Ego’s planet. He opted on staying behind with Groot to begin work on the ship. He set off to work soon after, soldering away at different parts as the others began to pack.

            “Are you not coming?” Skadi asked Dara, seeing she stood leaned up against one of the inner walls of the ship.

            “And be stuck on a planet with you and Quill? No thanks.” Dara grumbled, barely making eye contact with her. “If what the old man says is true I don’t want nothing to do with him. Dealing with one Quill is enough.”

            Skadi shook her head at the Badoon. She tried to think of something clever to say in retort but was drawing a blank. She was never good at comebacks when it came to Dara. The older woman always would come up with something better and more hurtful then she ever could. She was done with Dara’s games and wouldn’t play anymore.

            The Badoon wasn’t shocked when Skadi wordlessly walked away from her, backpack in hand. She knew her actions yesterday pushed her and probably half her team away. She had spent most of the night staring up into the sky thinking about it. Was she really happy here? She knew she wasn’t; she wasn’t meant to be a Guardian of the Galaxy, as they were all of a sudden called by the galaxy. Dara didn’t want to put her life at risk every day. The money that they even made wasn’t even worth it. She longed to go home now that she was free from the Kyln and maybe yesterday was the push she needed to get home.

            “You’re leaving me with the fox and Badoon!” Nebula’s loud wail snapped her out of her thoughts.            

            “He’s not a fox, and yes I am.” Gamora responded off handily.

            Dara’s signature smirk found its way to her face at Nebula’s outrage. Nebula glared up at her sister from her spot tied to the inside of the ship. Dara knew Gamora was going with them to Ego’s planet but didn’t expect her to leave Nebula behind.

            “You trust us to watch her?” Dara asked, as Gamora walked by them with her own bag she packed.

            “No, but I don’t have much of a choice.” Gamora barely glanced at her. “I can’t exactly bring her with us, can I?”

            “You could.” Dara shrugged, not fully understanding why she had to stay behind.

            “I have to keep my eye out for Ego. I can’t have my attention kept on Nebula constantly trying to escape or kill me.” Gamora further explained, stopping to turn to Rocket. “Shoot her if she does anything suspicious.”

            Skadi stood in earshot as Gamora spoke to Rocket who merely grunted in response. She wanted to add that Dara shouldn’t be left alone with Nebula, knowing that the Badoon would probably just mess with her for the fun of it but stopped herself when she felt a tug on her leg. She looked down knowing it would be the youngest of their family. Groot’s sad eyes looked up with her, arms outreached for her to pick him up. With a wide smile Skadi lifted him up without hesitation, cradling him in the palm of her hand, letting him hug himself to her shoulder.

            “I am Groot.” He spoke quietly.

            “You know why we can’t take you.” She sighed, “You’ll be safer here with Rocket. He’ll take good care of you, you know that.”

            “I am Groot.”

            “Hey come on now, that’s not true.” Skadi chuckled, patting his little head with her fingers. “We do love you. It’s only for a couple of days and we’ll be back before Rocket can even fix up the ship, I promise.”

            Groot pouted as she put him down to rest on a fallen crate. She stroked his check with the back of her finger, reassuringly. She didn’t think it’d be this hard to leave him for only a few days. Even though the little tree was a handful and sometimes she missed the old, fully grown Groot, she grew to love the little guy.

            Skadi said her final goodbyes to him before heading out to meet Peter and Drax, who stood waiting for the two girls to finish getting their stuff and say their goodbyes. Drax eyes Quill, warningly, “Are you certain about parting ways? What if the Sovereign come?”

            “There’s no way for them to know they’re here.” Peter assured him, secretly trying to assure himself.

            “I hope you are right.” Drax nodded his head, Peter not easing his uncertainty at all.

            “Geeze, you’re like an old woman.” Peter groaned, eyeing the Destroyers in annoyance.

            “Because I am wise?”

            Peter tilted his head as Drax turned away to follow Gamora as she headed to Ego’s ship. Peter was unamused by his response knowing that Drax thought he was being clever. He wasn’t sure if he was prepared for this trip with them. He partly wished it could have just been him and Skadi to go but Gamora shot that idea down before he could even finish saying it. Drax had to jump in and invite himself, saying he was the only one capable of protecting them if they needed it and that he also wanted to learn more about the creepy bug lady.

            Skadi stopped in front of Peter, waiting for him to go meet the others on Ego’s ship. She looked curiously as he turned to look from the direction Drax and Gamora walked to back to Rocket. He was about to open his mouth to try and mend things with Rocket but Rocket cut him off before he could even open his mouth,

            “Hope daddy isn’t as big of a dick as you, orphan boy.”

            Skadi could feel Peter falter form the side of her. Placing her hand on his chest she tried pushing him away from the ship, knowing that if he left on even worse terms with Rocket, his whole trip could be spoiled. Peter shook his head though, refusing to let Rocket get the last word again.

            “What’s your goal here?” He questioned, getting Rocket’s ears to perk up in curiosity. “To get everyone to hate you? Cause it’s working.”

            “Well aren’t you clever.”  Dara snorted, laughing at Peter’s remark.

            Peter’s eyes shifted to her, letting his anger show clearly. He had many things he wanted to say to her. Like telling her that when they came back and finished fixing the Milano that he’d be dropping her off at the nearest planet and leaving her behind. He knew better though and kept his mouth shut. Peter turned himself and Skadi around without another word before marching them off to the ship that awaited them.

            He was happy to rid himself of Rocket and Dara for the next few days. Peter felt some sort of relief when he felt the ship finally set off after they all got settled in. He didn’t know how to properly describe how he felt but he knew that he was eager to get to know the truth about Ego and hopefully give himself a break from the nonstop nonsense they all had been through the last three months.

            As he settles into his seat, across from Drax he takes out a small, folded piece of paper from his trench coat’s pocket. He stares down at it; it was the picture he managed to keep since he was abducted of David Hasselhoff. It was the very same on he’d show all his classmates. They had never believed him of course, it was clearly cut out from a magazine but he still tried his hardest to convince them otherwise.

            He’d never even shown Skadi it, too embarrassed to admit he still held onto all these years. He was a grown man now and still would pull it out occasionally and wish that he really was his father. The Terran lifted his eyes up to stare at Ego as stood down the hall, talking to Mantis. His eyes filled up with guarded hope.  

            Gamora had waited for Skadi to leave the room Ego gave her and Peter to stay in during their trip to his planet. She leaned against the wall quietly wanting to finally have that word with her that Skadi refused to the night before. Now was the perfect time seeing as Ego had sent Mantis off to entertain Peter and Drax while Ego disappeared off to somewhere in the ship.

            Gamora heard the door slide open and swiftly pushed Skadi back into the room before she could even step a foot into the hallway. The door slide closed again behind them. Skadi eyed up Gamora, scared by her actions having been expecting her to be out in the ship’s common area with the others. Gamora blocked the doorway, sensing Skadi wanting to make a dash for it.

            “I just want to talk.” Gamora raised her hands up in surrender.

            Skadi bit the inside of her cheek, not wanting to be scolded by her. She put her hands sharply on her hips, not holding back on showing how irritated she was that Gamora came to her. Gamora didn’t understand that Skadi knew that Peter had to take this chance. Gamora was making this into a way bigger deal than it needed to be. If things didn’t pan out they’d just kill Ego, steal his ship and go back to Berhert. 

            “There’s nothing really to talk about.”

            “I think there’s a lot to talk about. Don’t you think it’s too convenient that he found us all of a sudden? We have too many enemies! It could be a-,”

            “A trap. Yes I know, you’ve said. You’ve said that at least 10 times in the last twenty-four hours at least. Honestly probably more than that actually.” Skadi groaned, moving to sit on the bed.

            Gamora shifted in disappointment. She didn’t mean to come off as nagging but no one was truly listening to her. Peter had been until Skadi opened her mouth and convinced him this was a good idea. She didn’t like being this far out alone, without Rocket prepared to come get them out if they needed. They didn’t even know where Ego’s planet was or how to get back to Berhert without him.

            “I just don’t think you understand how dangerous this could end up being. I know you care for Peter and want him to meet his father but we can’t go into this blindly.” Gamora continued to press.

            “What would you like me to say, Gamora? Have Ego turn us back? Go back and drop us off at Berhert? I know we have to be cautious around him; I may seem like a stupid little girl but I’m not stupid. I know you can’t fully trust him right away but I actually got to talk to him. He seems like he just wants his son back.” Skadi spoke almost accusedly to the Zen-Whoberi, insulted that she could think so little of her.

            “I never said you were stupid. I just think you’re too eager to give Peter what he’s always wanted.” Gamora sighed, looking at the girl pessimistically. “Some things are better left the way they are, Skadi.”

            “If you were given the chance to see your family again wouldn’t you take it?” The girl questioned, throwing Gamora off.

            Skadi hadn’t mentioned or asked about Gamora’s family since that day they spent together in Xandar. It also wasn’t like Gamora had been super open about it since then either, only throwing in a few comments about her life before Thanos occasionally. She blinked a few times as she tried to think of the words to say.

            “They’re dead. I’d never get that chance again so it doesn’t matter.”

            “We’re going to stay with Peter’s father for a few days and then we’re going back to help finish fix the ship.” Skadi stood up, walking past Gamora. She was done with this conversation and Gamora’s constant questions.

            “And if Peter doesn’t want to leave his father?”


	9. Break the Silence

* * *

 

Peter and Drax’s laughter was heard as Skadi walked quickly down the hall towards them. She tried to hide her sudden worry over Gamora’s final words to her. Thoughts of panic raced through her head as she heard Gamora’s heels clicking behind her. She hadn’t thought about Peter not wanting to leave Ego’s planet; the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind in the slightest. All she had been thinking about was giving him all he ever wanted and all she could’ve wished for. She hadn’t thought about what would happen if he wanted to stay.

            She would stay with him right? But then that would mean the end of the Guardians, if they both stood. Surely, the other couldn’t still function without them. Or could they? It wasn’t as if they were the glue that kept them together. Peter was their leader but Gamora could easily take over for him. But they’d have no ship; Peter would never just give up the Milano, could he?

            “There you are.” Peter’s voice spoke, staring at the two girls, his attention mostly on his girlfriend though. “Where were you? You took so long.”

            Skadi stared at him for a few seconds trying to calm her frazzled persona, knowing Peter well enough that he’d soon catch on to her. Letting herself smile falsely, she shrugged, stating that she almost took the wrong corridor and Gamora had to help her find the way.

            “Well you are just in time. We just brought up our bet to the bug lady about what her antennae’s are for.” Drax cheerfully informed her, indicating he wanted her to join them. Once she took a seat next to Peter he began to tell her about the bet. “I say that if she is about to go through a doorway that is too low, the antennas will feel this and stop her from being decapitated.”

            “And I think that if they’re for anything else besides protecting her from doorways, I win.” Peter chuckled, knowing that he already won and was amused by Drax’s eagerness.

            Their bet lightened both Gamora and Skadi’s mood. They were still antsy but the boys warm-natured bickering eased them slightly. The two girls were in fact curious as to know if Mantis’s antennas did have a purpose or if it was just part of her. The way they moved as she thought about the boy’s questions made Skadi and Gamora smile.

            “They are not for feeling doorways.” Mantis said drawn out, as if it was the silliest thing she ever heard.

            “Damn it.” Drax muttered, slapping his hand against his knees in defeat as Peter laughed at him.

            “I think they have something to do with my empathic abilities.” Mantis offered, trying to ease Drax back into his upbeat self.

            “You have powers?” Skadi asked completely interested. She had always loved meeting others who also had powers. She remembered when she first met Dara, how terrified but amazed by hers she was.   
            “Yes, if I touch someone I can feel their feelings.” Mantis nodded, smiling but soon stopping after remembering Drax making fun of how she did before.

            “You can read minds?” Peter piped in.

            “No, telepaths read minds. Empaths can feel feelings, emotions.” Mantis turned to Peter, reaching out her hand timidly. “May I?”

            As Peter didn’t make a move to stop her, instead reaching his hand out to hers, curious as to what she could really do. Her hands were cold against his palm as his emotions shot through her senses. Her antennae’s lit up on the tips. Once she could feel all she could, she tried to mimic how she noticed the two other girls in the room had smiled moments ago, eager to learn.

            “You feel love. Romantic, sexual love, for her!” Mantis jumped in her seat eagerly, never feeling those emotions herself before. She looked between the pair not needing to touch them to feel their embarrassment radiating off of them.

            Drax bellowed, amused by the bug lady for outing his comrades feelings. Quickly he quieted his laughter so he could speak, realizing that this was nothing and wanted to be amused again.

             “We all know this, tell us something we don’t know!”

            “She just said she can’t read minds, only how we feel Drax.” Skadi deadpanned, shaking her head at him.

            Mantis turned to the girl while moving her hand from Peter’s towards hers. Skadi hadn’t noticed until Mantis’s cold hand was now on her lower arm. Skadi gulped, now feeling all eyes on her; she wasn’t sure how she felt about Mantis revealing her emotions to everyone. She was still trying to push down her feelings about the conversation her and Gamora just had. Without thinking she pulled her arm away from Mantis hoping that she didn’t have enough time to get anything.

            “Oh,” Mantis said, frowning. She held her hand to her chest unsure if she overstepped a boundary or upset her. She was only doing what was asked of her.

            “Well? What does she feel?” Drax asked, loudly.

            Mantis’s big black eyes turned to Drax, unsure if it was okay to speak. She wanted to please them like Ego had ordered her to do. They did ask her to show them her powers, so she would. Mantis hadn’t picked that much up from the girl. She’d only let her hold her for a little over a minute. She felt the initial anxiety of Mantis’s intrusion along with frustration, probably from having to re-explain Mantis’s powers to Drax. The empath couldn’t help but thinking about the green woman in the room. Skadi also felt something similar to how to felt about Drax towards her as well. During her short time reading her emotions she could tell Skadi seemed to being hiding how upset she truly was; something happened between the two, something about Gamora’s words from earlier lingering in Skadi’s mind and causing her to feel sadness.            

            “Well she, -um, feels annoyance.” Mantis settled, looking at Drax, trying to hint that it was towards him without having to verbal spell it out for him. Mantis ignored Skadi as she turned to look up at Gamora. “She’s also very angry at you. Something about your words from moments ago have made her very sad and resentful. She-,”

            “Why don’t we do something else now?” Skadi bolted up from her spot, not caring about interrupting Mantis.

            Drax slapped his knees; he was amused by Mantis revealing Skadi’s deepest, hidden thoughts. It wasn’t even as if it was some bombshell had been dropped but the Destroyer’s laughter echoed through the room not caring about how mortified Skadi was. The girl looked up to see Gamora frowning down at her. Skadi could’ve swore she saw her veins pulsing in her temples. Gulping, Skadi glared at Mantis and Drax, cursing at him to shut up. This only made Drax laugh louder.

            “Dude you’re totally overreacting.” Peter tried to defend Skadi, feeling embarrassed for her. Though, his curiosity was caught. He had no idea what Mantis was talking about; what had Gamora said to her to upset her? They’d only been gone for a matter of minutes.

            “Do me! Do me!” Drax ordered.

            Mantis, keen to get the feelings of sadness and bitterness out of her system eagerly reached to touch Drax’s bicep. It all rushed in quickly; the happiness and giddiness that he felt. She started to giggle and before long they pair were reading off of each other, causing them to laugh hysterically. Drax and Mantis clutched onto each other, nearly falling off of their seats.

            Peter shook his head at the two, as Gamora ignored it to the best of her ability. She knew that Peter would be pestering her later on about what had been said. She knew he’d be angry with her for cornering Skadi to talk. She didn’t want to have that discussion with him now or be forced to apologize to Skadi. She only said what she said to try and get her to think. Maybe she was overreacting to this whole thing?

            Mantis wiped the tears from her eyes, attempting to compose herself as she released her hold upon Drax. She moved, still somewhat joyfully, to reach out to Gamora. Gamora saw this and immediately stopped her. She grabbed her wrist through her clothes, giving the girl a stern stare.

            “Touch me and the only thing you’re going to feel is a broken arm.”

            Anxiously, Mantis backs away, bowing her head down to not meet any of their eyes. She frowns knowing that if Ego hears about her displeasing them she’d get it later. She already was afraid of him, with everything he’s done since she’s been in his care and she didn’t want to displease him further.

            “I can also alter emotions, to an extent.”

            “Like what?” Peter huffed, unamused by the commotion that just happened.

            “If I touch someone who is sad I can ease them into contentment, for a short while anyways,” Mantis looked to Skadi as if to offer that to her. She continued when it was clear Skadi had no interest as she was staring down at her feet. She turned to Gamora now, “I can make a stubborn person compliant. But I mostly use it to help my master sleep. He lies awake at night, thinking about his progeny.”

            She remember what Ego told her. He wanted Peter to know how much he longed to have him back. How hard he had been searching for him. It was Mantis’s job to please them but she was to also help Ego win his son over.

            “Do one of those on me!” Drax asked all too excitedly, grinning expectantly.

            Mantis did as such, standing again and placing her hand softly against his forehead. She spoke delicately for him to sleep and within seconds he was knocked out, collapsed back against the couch they sat on.             Mantis smiled to the others, hoping she pleased them. Peter looked far more relaxed now that he was asleep, as the girls still looked agitated. Mantis knew in order to please she wouldn’t show them any more use of her powers, at least until Ego told her too.


	10. Beauty Lies Just Beyond the Eye

 

* * *

 

            Four moons shined in the night sky of Berhert. Dara had been staring up at them trying to drown out the music playing from the cassette player within the ship. How that thing managed survive the destruction of the ship a second time, she would never know but she cursed the fact that it had. Of all the things that she had to put up with during her time with the Guardians, Quill’s music was something she wouldn’t ever get used to.

            She knew how important it was to him. She was there the day he opened that gift from his mom and made them listen to his new tape on repeat for the last three months. Everyone else on the ship had felt the same way for the first few weeks but for whatever reason they all grew accustomed to it and now didn’t mind it playing mindlessly in the background. Even Rocket, the one who she had gotten along with the most was now humming along to the music.

            “Could you please just turn it off?” She asked with a long sigh, staring back down from the sky.

            Rocket ignored her, as he had been since they’d been left here. Huffing she stood up, ready to break the thing and deal with Quill about it later. The campfire crackled as her feet patted across the forest floor. She felt little fists pound against her legs, pulling on her as if they had a chance to stop her. She looked down to Groot, snaring at him in annoyance. Gently, she shook him away from her, not caring when he thumped to the ground with a cry.

            This caught Rocket’s attention. The rodent bared his teeth and dropped his tools, “Do that again and I swear I’ll blast you!”

            “Turn that trash off and I won’t have to!” Dara shot back, still making her way into the ship. She was about to reach the player to rip it out of the wall when a harsh beeping came from Rocket’s portable data pad.

            She remembered him setting up security triggers around their camp site just in case anyone did happen to find them. She stopped what she was doing and narrowed her eyes at him. “You set up traps right?”

            “What do you take me for? An idiot?” Rocket exclaimed, getting ready to run off to see who set the security triggers off.

            “Yes.”

            Rocket was all too good at ignoring Dara because she was just like him. They both needed to have the last word. He rolled his eyes. The difference between them though was that he was smarter than her and knew that she’d just keep rolling out insults and forget about the problem at hand. Someone had found them and they needed to find out who.

            “You stay here. Watch Groot and the crazy blue lady.” Rocket ordered before running off into the woods.

            Dara rolled her eyes. As if that raccoon would give her orders. She waited until the coast was clear before she started to head out of the ship, ignoring Groot’s pleas to stay with him. She knew that she was of better use out there than babysitting. 

            She made sure her footsteps were light as she jogged the opposite way Rocket had gone, hoping to meet the intruders before he did and show him up. She frowned moments later but stood silent still because she could hear Rocket’s traps being set off, the cries of men being heard throughout the wood. She could see a flash of light, signaling where they were. She could hear another group nearby, probably rushing to see what was happening to the other half of their party. Dara smirked, rushing to cut them off. She raced through the trees, their shouts getting louder. She could hear them barking orders to the others, all panicking by being caught and failing a sneak attack. The Badoon saw the group of men a few feet away from her. They were Ravagers.

            How they found them, she couldn’t guess. They hadn’t seen them since Xandar. She knew that this face off would happen sooner or later and she was glad that Peter and Skadi weren’t here. They still had a soft spot for their old Captain whether they were brave enough to admit it or not. Dara knew that they’d hold back if they had to fight Yondu again.

            She whistled loudly, earning their attention. They all turned around, shouting. The Ravagers weren’t known for being quiet she’d come to find out. They all began to take aim at her but she was quicker. She had been a trained Badoon Warrior once before. These Ravagers were nothing compared to some of the armies she’s fought. Before any could take aim, with a mere look she sent them flying into the air. Their weapons ripped from their hands midair. She let them fall once they were high enough for it to hurt but not kill them.

            She barely gave them a moment to catch their breath before throwing them back up, like this was a child’s game. Dara hear Rocket fighting off his on group of Ravager flunky’s and grinned. She couldn’t wait for the others to return so she could give them a shit-eating grin about this. She finally released them from her grasp after a few more tosses up and down, having heard footsteps running up behind her.

            The Badoon wiped around, swiping her hands out and clawing the Ravager that tried to sneak up on her. He cried out as the skin on his cheek was ripped opened. As relentless as ever, Dara continued, using the other hand to claw his other cheek before kicking him to the ground. As he was sprawled out on the ground she used her powers to forcefully slide him backwards into a tree. She continued to take on each Ravager who dared to come against her. She relayed less on her powers and more on her brute strength, having much more fun when she could engage hand to hand.

            Dara pressed deeper and deeper into the wood, now trying to see where Rocket was, wanting to see if he found Yondu yet. She had wanted to give him a piece of her mind and refused to let him get out of this alive. When she could hear no sign of him she decided to go back to the remains of the ship. Maybe they were back there and she was missing out.

            Swiftly and being undetected by the other Ravagers that littered the forest around her she made it quickly to the Milano. Rocket wasn’t there, only Groot looking at her in relief. Nebula had been trying to convince him to release her from the looks of it. Dara matched up to her, expectantly. Nebula glared up at the Badoon as she was so close to convincing the little tree to release her.

            “You need my help. Free me and I will help you defeat them.” Nebula tried to reason. “I’m not going to die without being able to defend myself.”

            “One: Gamora said not to trust you, you’d attack me the moment I’d let you go. Two: if you honestly think I’d ever need your help, well, I had thought I met stupider people in the galaxy than you.” Dara laughed, turning to head back into the fight.

            “I won’t, I promise and I keep my promises.” Nebula shouted to her, causing Dara to turn to give her one final glance.

            Back in the forest Rocket stood in a clearing after taking down another set of Ravagers. His ears were twitching like crazy, trying to pick up on his surroundings. Rocket groaned the moment he heard that familiar whistle he heard back on Xandar. He closed his eyes knowing that he had been caught. He took down as many Ravagers as he could, also hearing Dara taking down her own as well. He was about to head back to the Milano to try and radio the others but he was stuck. He was stuck with Yondu’s arrowing floating behind his head and he had no means of escaping this one.

            “Pretty easy to find you lot. Put a tracer on your ship back during the war over Xandar.” Yondu appeared before him, smiling.

            “Give me your word you won’t hurt Groot, and I’ll tell you where the batteries are.” Rocket raised his hands in defeat, looking up at the blue bastard.

             “My word means squat.”  Yondu gave him a toothy laugh, picking his tooth with his finger. “Luckily for you, that is otherwise I’d actually hand you over to that golden priestess.”

            “Otherwise you’d do what?” Another Ravager, Rocket never saw before walked up.

            He hadn’t seen him when they teamed with Yondu to defeat Ronan. Rocket was sure he’d remember a face like that. With his pinkish, purple skin filled with scars and disgusting warts. His greasy hair shaved to a long Mohawk. His whole being just screamed gross creepy pirate.

            Yondu simply brushed his new crew member off, turning to look back at Rocket, “We’ll take those batteries. They’re worth like what? A quarter mil’ on the black market?”

            “The priestess offered us a million!” The pink alien cried out again, “A quarter is only one third of that!”

            “What?” Yondu stared at him, squinting his eyes narrowly, “A quarter ain’t one thi-,”

            “A quarter is four times million!” Oblo, one of Yondu’s more trusted crew members spoke up, trying to end the confusion.

            “No, idiot a quarter is twenty-five.” Gef spoke up next.

            “No,” Yondu shook his head, placing his hands on his hips tiredly.

            “We can’t even buy a pair of boots with twenty-five units.” Gef continued,

            “Enough!” Yondu shouted, silencing all you spoke out. He gave them all his fear death glared, daring them to talk back again. “The POINT is, we aren’t going to be stupid enough to help kill the Guardians of the Galaxy. We’d have the whole Nova Corps on us!”

            Kraglin, who had been silently standing behind the Captain, frowned. He always obeyed every order Yondu gave him. He respected him more than anyone else in the entire galaxy but he was now coming to realize what their Captain was really doing and he was tired of it. All these years he served him just as Peter and Skadi did, even more loyally than they ever did so. He never stole from him, snuck out or openly disrespected him the way they did but in the end Yondu would always favor them over him any day.

            “That ain’t right.” Kraglin spoke up before even realizing he had. With Yondu now staring at him he couldn’t find it in himself to stop speaking. “I’m sorry but I just gotta say it this one time, Cap’n. No matter how many times Quill and Skadi betray you, you protect them. It’s like none of the rest of us much matter. I’m the one who always sticks up for you!”

            “Damn straight, lad. You’re right; he’s gone soft. S’pose it’s time for a change in leadership!” The newest Ravager spoke up again, lifted his weapon.

            He pointed it straight to Yondu, knowing that other would follow. The handful that did had his back, aiming their own at those loyal to their Captain. Rocket crutched down, seeing that he was in the center of the potential crossfire. The Ravagers shouted at each other, trying to see where their loyalties lie and what side they wanted to be on. Yondu stepped forward, giving a toothy snare at Kraglin, showing his disappointment. Glaring at the main mutineer, he gives a wet whistle ready to end the sudden rebellion when a gunshot rang out.

            Rocket gasped as Yondu’s fin was shot off his skull causing the blue alien to totter back and forth, losing his balance from the impact. As his Yaka arrow clatters to the ground so does Yondu with a huff before he’s out like a light. Rocket’s eyes slowly rise in anger and betrayal as he sees Nebula lose, aiming a smoking pistol at where Yondu once stood. Next to her was Dara, who seemed to show no remorse for letting Gamora’s psychopathic sister loose.

            “Well hello boys.” Nebula smirks, holstering the pistol.


	11. I Really Wanna Be With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just powered through writing the next like 5 chapters for this and i'm so excited to get back into writing this more! I'm itching to write the next book for this and can't wait to set up where I'm taking this in the next few chapters :) let me know what you guys think in the comments, also what did you guys think of the Endgame spot aired during the superbowl? I cannot wait to see Tony and Nebula teamed up!
> 
>  
> 
> also quick thanks to everyone you dropped a KUDOS!!!!

* * *

 

       The next morning Drax found himself being the only one out of the Guardians to seem to be in a decent mood. Could it be from Mantis working her magic on him the night before? Knocking him out on the couch and leaving him there overnight seemed to be the only reason they could think of. He felt well rest, worry free, and eager to see this planet Peter Quill’s father called his own. He tried to share his excitement with Gamora, who stood with her arms crossed again her chest with a bitter look on her face.

            She didn’t get much sleep the night prior; she stood up for most up replaying her confrontation with the young Asgardian. She really didn’t think she did anything wrong, she was just the only one with a cool head and was making sure they all stood alert. Gamora understood how important this could be for Peter but this could also not fare well for them. The look on Peter’s face that morning when he and Skadi joined them again in the living area of the ship for breakfast confirmed Gamora’s fear of him no longer siding with her on this. He must’ve asked Skadi what Mantis had been talking about last night. Skadi had told him, Gamora knew. The tension between the three lingered even as they arrived on Ego’s planet; even the beautiful, royal red planet, spinning in front of an enormous yellow sun couldn’t cut the tension between them.

            The ship landed and the Guardians followed Ego and Mantis off of the ship, ready to breathe air that wasn’t artificial. The moment their feet touched the landing pad they were all rendered speechless. There were to many trees a high as skyscrapers to count. They were all different colors; bright greens, crisps reds, and shining yellows. The grass was the lushest any of them had ever seen, each silently wishing they brought Groot so he could see this; he would have fallen in love with this place.

            Eager to show them his home, Ego ushered them forward onto the floating tram that emerged from the landing pad. The tram glided onward, slowly as if to allow them to soak up the sights around them. A large lake and river with waterfalls pouring into them revealed itself to them, Ego making note that he remembered Peter’s mom love of going camping and swimming in the lakes.

            “I can’t believe you have your own planet.” Peter stated, eyes wide.

            “Well I mean it’s no larger than your earth’s moon.” Ego shrugged at his son, turning to look at him proudly.

            “Humility; I like it. I too, am extraordinarily humble.” Drax’s deep voice rang out.

            Skadi couldn’t help but chuckle at Drax as he spoke. He was the last person in the world who could call himself humble. Just saying that he was extraordinarily humble showed proved that he wasn’t. She rolled her eyes at the Destroyer as he seemed amused that she laughed at him; she was still mad. The pair became distracted though by the sudden appearance of colorful bubble like clumps that floated by them. Drax was the first to reach out and poke one, being unafraid of the unfamiliar thing. He let out a loud laugh as it burst into a dozen more little bubbles at his touch.

            The blonde turned to Peter, wanting to see his reaction to them but smiled softly to herself when she saw him staring forward in childlike amazement as a large palace approached them from atop a mountain. Skadi felt a pang of familiarity when it caught her attention; it looked as if she’d seen something like it before but yet at the same time it was like nothing she could ever remember.

            When they reached the palace moments later, Ego led them towards the towering doors, frowning the moment Gamora began talking. She quickly snapped them all out of their awestruck appearances, not giving up in the least bit to remind them to not completely fall into Ego’s spell.

            “You have your own planet and can destroy two dozen spaceships without a space suit. What are you, exactly?” She questioned, ignoring the glares sent to her from Skadi and Peter.

            Ego smiled at them, silently telling them he didn’t mind her question. He smiled widely at her, “I’m what they call a Celestial, sweetheart.”

            The four Guardians halted, unsure if they heard him correctly. Peter snapped out of his daze as well, turning to Gamora in full seriousness. “A Celestial? Like a…God?”

            “Small ‘g’ son. At least on the days I’m feeling as humble as Drax.” Ego laughed before walking up the stairs.

            Mantis nodded at them to follow Ego, unpassed by their stunned and warry looks. Ego sauntered in front of them all walking through the enormous open doors towards what appeared to be a huge ball room. On both sides of the tall detailed walls, dioramas lined them. Peter eyed them curiously, noting that figures were placed in them as Ego opened them up with a snap of his fingers.

            “This form you see before you is only an extension of who I really am.” Ego spoke, bringing them to the first diorama. “I don’t know where I came from or how I exactly came to be.” All of the dioramas around them looked as if they were coming to life as Ego continued his story. In the first, a shimmering brain floated in space.

            “The first thing I can remember is flickering, adrift in the cosmos; utterly and completely” The brain then began to absorb cosmic dust and rocks from space into itself, feeding on them and growing bigger. “I fed on the matter around me; growing smarter, stronger. I formed a body to protect myself from the elements.”

            Ego moved them along stopping at the next station. The brain was now covered by a shell of rock, growing into a planet. The beautiful landscaped and structures they all had just seen forming. “I built from there, layer by layer, the very planet you walk on today. I built the mountains, rivers, placed all the trees. Everything.”

            “How did you end up on Earth?” Peter asked, his voice soft and eyes staring at the planet growing and changing.

            “I wanted more than a pretty place to live. I desired…meaning.” Ego placed a gentle hand on Peter’s shoulder, looking at him in the eye. He gave his son’s shoulder a tight squeeze before continuing onto the next diorama. “There must be some life out there besides just me, I thought, and I set myself the task of finding it.”

            The brain began to grow a skeletal body, all the insides and flesh of a human being slowly forming afterwards. “I created what I imagined biological life might be like, down to the minutest detail.”

            “Did you make a penis?” Drax blurted out, cutting off Ego mid-speech.

            “Dude!” Peter gapped, whipping his head around to glare at him. Peter shared a look of disgust with Skadi, as she stared speechless at the grey man.

            “What’s wrong with you?” Gamora chastised, holding back the urge to smack him upside the head.

            “What?” Drax squinted. “If he is a planet, how did he make a baby with your mother? He would smoosh her!”

            “I don’t need to hear about how my parents, you know…” Peter motioned for Drax to stop but the Destroyer kept going, wanting his questioned answered.

            “Why? My father would tell me the story of impregnating my mother every winter solstice.” Drax took in their repulsed reactions and huffed. “Intimacy is a natural thing Peter. Maybe this is why you and Skadi have been unable to-,”

            “Drax!” Skadi and Peter both screamed at the same time. Skadi stepped forward covering his mouth with her hands.

            “I will freeze your lips closed if you finish that sentence.” She let go of him seconds later, nervously brushing her hair to rest behind her ears.

            “You two have hang-ups.” Drax muttered, crossing his arms against his chest.

            “Yes, Drax, I’ve got a penis and it’s not half bad.” Ego laughed, wanting to appease everyone and end the conversion. He ignored his son and the girls’ grimace as Drax shouted out in victory. “I’ve also got pain receptors, a digestive system, and all the accompanying junk. I wanted to experience what it truly meant to be human as I set out amongst the stars. I visited thousands of planets over thousands of years, one barren husk after the next until I found what I sought: Life. I was not alone in this universe after all.”

            “When did you meet my mother?” Peter finally asked, stepping forward.

            “Not long after.” Ego gave a somewhat sad frown, turning towards the last set of dioramas. They showed himself and Meredith kissing, and then Ego with his hand on Meredith’s pregnant belly. “It was with Meredith that I experienced love for the first time. I called her my river lily. And from that love came you Peter.

            “You have to believe me,” Ego’s eyes shifted quickly to Gamora, as if pleading with his son to listen to him over her. “I searched for you for so long. When I heard a man from earth held an Infinity Stone in his hands and lived, I knew you must be the son of the woman I loved.”

            Quill noticed Ego’s eyes trailing behind him, knowing he was looking at Gamora. Peter frowned; he wanted to believe him but he couldn’t quite let himself. “If you loved her why did you leave?”


	12. Yes, I Knew I Should Leave

* * *

            On the Eclector, the Ravager’s massive ship, a trail of Ravager’s bodies slowly drifted off into the cosmos. Inside the ship, shouts, cheers and pleas were the only things that could be heard. The part of the crew that sided with Taserface barked, drinking in their victorious rebellion. They held down those who stood loyal to Yondu, blasting them each off into space with their former Captain forced to watch.            

            Yondu sat helplessly strapped to a chair. He looked like a wreck, headpiece destroyed, wires hanging from the gap in his head. He tried his best to ignore his crew’s pleas for help as Taserface had them purposely dragged close by him to their death. Yondu’s head dropped in shame as Taserface approached him.

            “You’re the one what kil’t those men. You led ‘em down this path.” He punched the blue alien in the gut. “You’re weak and stupid.” He dealt more punches after each word before turning to the Ravagers, who waited for him to speak eagerly.

            Nebula leant calmly against a wall, watching from the background. She wished for his nonsense to end soon. It wasn’t like she felt anything towards the Ravagers meeting their death or Yondu, who would soon be sold off if everything went according to her plan. She didn’t even feel a hint of remorse as a smaller group of Ravagers went off to the side and taunted and scared the small tree who was now held captive in a bird cage. She just wanted this to end so she could get what she needed and leave.

            Dara stood next to her taking everything in as well. There was no going back from this and she was oddly at ease about that. She knew that if she ever crossed paths with the Guardians after this they’d most likely kill her. The fact alone that she betrayed them, freed Nebula and helped kidnap Rocket and Groot would make them kill her. She would just go home and never leave again. She kept repeating that in her head over and over again, trying to drown out little Groot’s shouts and cries as the Ravager’s pushed his cage around. She was at ease, she kept telling herself. She felt no remorse.

            “The Ravagers will once again to rise to glory with a new Cap’n, Taserface!” The new captain himself shouted, with his crew shouting back in approval. He held his arms up in glory, living for this moment. His moment though, was interrupted by snickering. He stopped, sneering and turning to face the source.

            He and the other Ravagers turn to see Rocket, who was also tied to a chair with his arms tightly secured. Rocket giggled, purposely, wanting to have gotten caught. “I’m sorry but your name can’t really be Taserface?”

            “Do you think this is funny?” Taserface growled, slowly approaching the raccoon.

            “Well I mean, do you shoot tasers out of your face?” Rocket questioned, still giggling.

            “It’s metaphorical!” the captain shouted, earning cheers from his crew.

            “For what?”

            “It’s a name what strikes fear in anyone what hears it!”

            “Really?” Rocket asked, squinting at the monstrous man.

            Taserface screamed at him, spit flying everywhere as his crew began to side with Rocket. It really wasn’t that scary of a name. In fact, it was actually kind of stupid. Where they really going to be feared with a captain named Taserface?

            Taserface turned back to Yondu, wanting to show his new crew why they should fear his name. He brought out his blade, ready to kill the old man. “I’ve been waiting to do this for a long ti-,”

            Again, Rocket’s snickering filled everyone’s ears, this time his laughter louder. Taserface wiped his body around to seethe at the rodent again. He would kill him first. The priestess would have to take him in dead.

            “What?!”

            “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. You can continue I just can’t keep myself from imagining you waking up one morning, looking yourself in the mirror and in all seriousness, saying _‘you know what would be a really kickass name? Taserface!_ ”

            All the Ravager’s tried not to laugh, not wanting to be next in line to be shot out of the ship. Dara chuckled, shaking her head at the raccoon. He really did have a death wish. Even Nebula smirked as the raccoon continued.

            “What was your second choice? Scrotum Hat?”

            At this all of the Ravagers burst out into laughter, some falling over. The laughs cut a cord in Taserface, forgetting Yondu completely and ready to plunge the knife in the small annoying creature.

            “New plan, I’m killing you first.”

            “Well, dying is certainly better than having to live an entire life as a moronic shitbag who thinks Taserface is a cool name.” Rocket’s smile disappears. He stares at Taserface with dead eyes as Taserface goes to stab him.

            “That’s enough killing for today,” Nebula’s harsh cybernetic voice interrupted. She pushed her way through the crowd, strutting over to the pair.

            “Thought you were the biggest sadist in the galaxy?” Taserface stood up straight, questionably.

            Nebula smirked, chuckling to herself a bit, “That was back when Daddy offered to pay my bills. The Priestess will most likely want the fox alive, to kill herself. You won’t get anything for his body. And he,” Nebula explained, moving to lean her head towards Yondu, “Has bounties on his head in at least twelve Kree provinces for stealing property from one of their Accusers.”

            Nebula eyed Taserface, easily picking up on his fighting stance or at least what he thought was a proper stance. She could easily take him and the rest of the Ravagers. She also knew she’d have the Badoon on her side as well. She’d want in on that bounty as well.

            “I assure you, I am not as easy a mark as an old man without his magic stick or a talking woodland beast and twig.” She spoke, not faltering at all in her stance. When Taserface backed off, knowing that he couldn’t take on a daughter of Thanos. Nebula’s eyes glistened knowing that she had them. She then turned to look at Dara, who had been listening with amusement. Nebula nodded towards her before addressing Taserface again, “We each want ten percent of the take. And a couple more things.”

            Dara was more than surprised when Nebula had included her in the bounty. She was sure the cyborg was done with her the moment she freed her. Dara wasn’t complaining, she could use that money to get passage to her home world and far away from the Guardians. They weren’t the type who would go out of their way and track her there anyway. The green alien watched from her spot in the corner as Nebula tried on different fits of hands to replace the one she had lost way back on Ronan’s ship.

            Kraglin handed her one last one to try, hoping that it’d fit unlike the others. He volunteered to show Nebula to where they kept all their spare parts, a new hand being one of the other things she requested. Kraglin had just wanted to get out of the main deck and try to calm his brain from everything that had just happened. He was still in shock. He lost all his friends only moments ago and was about to lose the man who he looked up to like a father. The Ravager instantly regretted speaking up against Yondu the moment they boarded the Eclector and Taserface started blasting out any of the other Ravagers who didn’t side with him.

              “You think them Kree is gonna execute the Cap’n?” His voice cracked as he found it in himself to speak.

            “The Kree consider themselves merciful. It will be painless.” Nebula frowned, trying to sound reassuring but also keeping herself closed off and showing no emotion.

            Kraglin gulped, sighing as he moved to open a doorway besides a sign that read _Docking Bay_.  A ship, similar to Peter’s could be seen. Kraglin motioned towards it. “Well, there it is, the best ship we got left. The location to Ego’s in the nav. We’ll wire you your ten percent when we’s paid.”

            Nebula eyed the ship and noted all the weapons attached. She nodded her head in thanks, silently saying that it’ll suffice. Turning on her heel, she eyed Kraglin up and down, telling him with her eyes that his help was no longer needed. Kraglin’s lips formed a straight line, knowing that his time away from the chaos back inside the ship was up. Bowing his head slightly, he exited the room.

            “Nebula,” Dara spoke up once the doors Kraglin exited from closed shut.  “I’ll give you my cut as payment for passage to Lotiara.”        

            “The home of the Sisterhood?” Nebula questioned. “Keep your money.”

            “No! I-,” Dara pushed herself off the wall she leaned against, ready to lash out at the cyborg. She halted when Nebula raised her hand at her.

            “Keep your money. I’ll bring you but in exchange for your help.” Nebula lowered her hand, crossing her arms against her chest.

            “Why do you need my help?” Dara questioned, remembering how Kraglin mentioned giving her Ego’s coordinates. “I’m not going to Ego’s planet with you if that’s what you’re asking.”

            “Afraid?” Nebula smirked, turning to walk to her new ship. “I need to murder my sister.” Nebula said bluntly, not stopping her march to her ship. “I am not stupid. My sister is a better fighter than I. I cannot take her while her friends also try to defend her. You can easily take the rest while I kill my sister. As soon as I kill her, we’ll leave and I shall bring you back home as payment.”

            Dara frowned but still followed her into the docking bay. She was determined to do anything to get home. Did she really want to take part in killing Gamora though? There’d be no going back from that. There’d be no doubt if she helped, they would track her down for this. They’d never make in on Lotiara, she thought to herself. The Sisterhood protects its own; they’d be killed if they even tried to harm her.

            Dara couldn’t help but feel somewhat wrong for even thinking about taking part in killing her former teammate. In the past few months with the Guardians she hadn’t really opened herself up like the others had. Granted they were all still at each other’s throats but at least it seemed as if they enjoyed being a team together, whereas she was only doing because she thought the money would make it worth it.

            Gamora had been the only one she had really gotten along with. For a little bit, and Dara really meant a little bit, all three girls had gotten along quite well. Gamora and Dara grew to have a mutual respect for the other. They both knew what the other had been through and both knew what it was like to grow up learning to hate the other only to learn that what they had been taught was wrong. The pair had come to also take Skadi under their wing, you could say. How the girl was a Ravager all these years without killing herself was a mystery to them; granted, most of the jobs Skadi had done just involved breaking into a place and stealing something, with rarely any fighting. Gamora and Dara had taken the time to actually make sure the girl could hold her own in a real fight; and Dara couldn’t help but be proud that the girl had actually learned a thing or two from them.

            It wasn’t until the three girls where on a mission, having split up into two groups did things start to go south for Dara and the ice bender. They had been hired by the Nova Core to stop some left over Ronan supporters who had been attacking Xandarian outposts. The Guardians managed to track down one of the leaders of the terrorist group and with some persuasion by Dara’s powers he gave up information about their next attack. They were planning on bombing the Xandar spaceport and the Guardians were going to intercept them the night of the attack.

            Dara thought back on that night and sighed; that night was a disaster and it was mostly her fault. Before she could fall into deep thought about it she snapped herself out of it, watching as Nebula begin to board the ship without her. Nebula gave her one last look, as if asking if she was coming or not.

             “Why do you want to kill her so bad?” Dara asked.

            Nebula frowned, remembering all the years spent growing up under Thanos. She was always second best, always the one he looked down upon no matter what.

            “As a child my father would have Gamora and I battle one another in ‘training.’ Every time my sister prevailed my father would replace a piece of me with machinery, claiming he wanted me to be her equal. But she won, again and again and again.  Never once refraining. Because of them, I am this. So I will murder my sister to prove that I can and I will then buy a warship with every conceivable instrument of death. I will hunt my father like a dog and I will tear him apart slowly, piece by piece, until he knows some semblance of the profound and unceasing pain I know every single day.” Nebula finished, her shoulders falling forward heavily, letting out all the bent up anger she let built over all these years. She gave one last look to the Badoon, placing one foot on the stairway into the ship.

            “So I ask you, do you want to go home or do you not?”

 

 

 


	13. And It's Something Quite Peculiar

* * *

 

** SIX WEEKS AGO **

            Gamora led the girls deeper into the abandoned Xandarian outpost. Luckily even though this place was abandoned the radio signal inside was still strong. She had just radioed in with Peter checking in on their progress; they had gotten into their sector with no issues. Gamora urged them to stay a discreet as possible, this being their first mission like this since becoming a team. Since stopping Ronan, the Nova Core hadn’t really given them any jobs besides catching bounties on a couple of wanted criminals; besides that they’d taken smaller, easier jobs that basically just had them go to a place, retrieve an object and bring it to the buyer. None of them besides Gamora and Dara had been trained for a mission like this and Gamora was beyond stressed about it.

            This particular spaceport had long been abandoned, making Gamora wonder why the Ronan supporters they were tracking for the Nova Core chose this place as their next target. Every other attack they’d made had been where a large population of Nova officers where. It’d been a few weeks since Nova Prime hired them to go under the radar and help track down the stragglers still supporting Ronan; they had still been attacking Xandarian outposts, protesting the death of their Accuser. The Guardians managed to capture one of them, Dara using her powers to ‘persuade’ them to give up information on the new group. They didn’t have a name but their mission was clear; they were going to finish what Ronan started. When asked about their next attack they only gave up coordinates and date, leading the Guardians to where they were now.

            Gamora crept ahead of Dara and Skadi, making sure the coast was clear. Dara stood quietly behind her, not letting the Zen-Whoberi put too much distance between them, knowing that Gamora was doing it purposely to protect them. Dara huffed to herself, knowing damn well that she could handle herself perfectly and it was just Skadi that needed it. Dara’s eyes slipped to the girl who was being more silent than usual. Her big, clunky combat boots that she refused to trade in for something less loud for missions were always heard whenever she took a step.

            Dara smirked, seeing Skadi floating a few inches above the ground. The girl was learning, Dara laughed to herself.

            “I’m getting heat signatures down the hall. The blueprints says that there’s a room at the end of this hall.” Gamora whispered, looking down at her scanner Rocket had designed for them. “Looks like there’s five bodies. I’ll take two-,”

            “Dara will take two and I’ll take one?” Skadi scrunched up her nose, already knowing Gamora too well.

            “We don’t know what’s behind those doors so I rather be safe than be sorry.” Gamora whispered back, keeping her tone hard but still showing some sympathy towards the girl.

            “I can handle myself.” Skadi huffed.

            “You get your ass handed to you every time we all spare.” Dara chuckled, eyeing the girl up and down.

            “Well no shit! You can pin me down with your fuckin’ mind and Gamora was trained by Th-,” Skadi’s face reddened. It wasn’t fair, she wasn’t a child. She was sick of them treating her like one.

            “Enough.” Gamora warned through gritted teeth, cutting her off.

            “Look kid, me and Gamora are equal to at least four fighters,” Dara smirked, “When you can manage to win a fight against either one of us then you can-,”

            “Dara enough!” Gamora glared, “Focus, we don’t know what’s over there and we need to stay focused. Now on three, I’ll head out first, you two follow as my backup, understood?”

            Both girls nodded reluctantly, biting their tongues to prevent themselves from trying to have the last word. Gamora was right they had to focus. Skadi allowed herself to drop in temperature as Gamora began to count. One. Two. Three. Gamora leapt out from behind the corridor, charging down the corridor. She kept her body pressed against the wall, hiding herself from the view of the open door at the end of the hall. Luckily the halls were barely lit, the building being so run down after years of not being used. Dara and Skadi didn’t let a minute waste, following quietly behind, Skadi trying her hardest to keep up with them without making a noise.

            Gamora halted them, wanting to take a look inside the room first before allowing them to follow her in. She knelt beside the doorway, peering into the large room. It was an old control room, with screens lining the walls and different computers and devices littering the tables in the room. Each screen showed different parts of the building, surveying the property. Thankfully, they came prepared, Rocket jamming their signal before they all entered and split up. They all hoped that they wouldn’t notice but the Kree they had capture earlier pointed out what the patrol patterns of the Kree inside took. They planned their roots according to this, so the hallways they took wouldn’t be in use so they could just loop footage of it being empty while they were in them.

            Gamora crouched in first signaling Dara to follow and go right, they both hide from plain sight behind different stacks of shelfs and tables. She motioned for Skadi to wait, knowing that Dara was more quiet then her. Skadi pouted, but listened knowing that Gamora knew best. Gamora waited until she could see all the Kree in the room perfectly. Three stood crowed one screen, watching as others appeared to be in a docking bay and loading crates into a ship. The other two seemed to be on guard duty, monitoring the security footage. Gamora signaled Dara to wait, wanting to try and figure out what exactly the shipment was of. Focusing her attention to the screens, putting two and two together: this wasn’t their next target, this was their home base and the Guardians had most likely fallen into a trap.

            Dara followed Gamora’s line of sight, watching the Kree place more crates into the ship. She soon grew bored and turned her attention to watch the other screens. Different hallways and rooms were being monitored. One room caught her eye in particular. Inside where Kree scientist appearing to be testing on a person. Dara squinted trying to get a better look at who it could be and gasped as she realized it appeared to be a little girl. She tried to bring Gamora’s attention to the screen but couldn’t do so without bringing attention to them. Dara cursed to herself, turning back to the screens.

            Her eyes widened, now seeing that the hallway they had just been in popped up; she whipped her head around trying to see if Skadi noticed. The girl was still in the hallway, waiting for them to signal her in and completely oblivious to the approaching patrol group that appeared on the screen. Dara hissed, lightly patting the ground next to her to grab Gamora’s attention. Gamora glared at her, not understanding what she was doing at first but stopping when Dara jerked her thumb towards the surveillance videos. Gamora looked at the screen just in time to see a patrol unit of six officers round the corner to the hallway Skadi was in.

            “Hey! You there!”

            Skadi’s heart jumped at the sound of an unfamiliar voice call out to her. She jumped up from her spot, seeing the Kree patrol unit staring at her, readying their weapons and aiming at her. She gaped, jolting herself up in the air to avoid the lasers shot at her. Grimacing, as she hit the ceiling in her mad dash away, rubbing her head and yelping as they took fire on her again. She flew forward and down, side to side, narrowly avoiding each laser shooting past her.

            Gamora cried out, charging into the room to grab one of the Kree. She needed to know what was happening here. She clashed swords as the Kree prepared his own dagger to defend himself. One of the Kree cried out at her attack, cowering on the floor, crawling away until he took cover underneath a desk. Dara knew Gamora was all set and turned to run and help Skadi. She leapt down the hall, taking huge steps to reach the unit as quickly as she could.  

            Engaging the first Kree she could get her hands on, she grab his rifle, bashing him in the face with it the moment she ripped it out of his hands. Smashing it across his face again, she knocked him down with a kick before throwing it at the next one. Thrown off, the Kree stumbled backwards, fumbling to get his footing back. Dara pushed him backwards with her powers, watching as he crashed into the wall against his will. She quickly turned to see Gamora in the room, taking down the Kree’s inside. She shouted at her to radio the boys for backup, hoping she heard. In her brief state of distraction, the Kree she had pushed, jumped back at her, forcing her to the ground. He wrapped his hands around her neck, cutting off her airways.

            “Dara!” She could hear Skadi cry out.

            Dara let her watering eyes wander to where her voice was coming to see Skadi in the midst of a battle with the other four Kree. Skadi was struggling, constantly being shoved down, barely dodging their shots; her powers were the only way she was standing a chance. She’d shot out her own icy blast the moment she could, letting the Kree she’d hit cry out in pain and anger when she hit them. But who was Dara to judge, she was currently being choked out by one of them. She used her sharp nails to claw at the Kree’s armor. She tried to settle her mind and use her powers but she panicked as she couldn’t breathe.

            Skadi couldn’t catch her breath as she was yet again thrown against the floor as one of the officer’s body checked her to the floor. She tried to get her barring’s as soon as she smacked against the floor but only got dragged up and tossed back to another officer. She winced at her own pain and seeing Dara struggling. When the Badoon’s eyes began to close, Skadi let out a scream of anger, something inside of her snapping and turning on. She dropped her body temperature as low as she did back on Ronan’s ship weeks ago, gripping onto the Kree’s arm tightly. He cried out in pain and Skadi didn’t falter. She pushed further, creating a protective aura of brisk cold around herself. Skadi shot up a blast of ice and snow in the face of the Kree holding her, forcing them backwards until his back hit the wall. She froze him to the wall, ripping herself from his arms. He was stuck in a thick coating of ice, the pain petrified on his face. She quickly shoot out another blast knocking down the other Kree, she noted one escaping but didn’t think to worry about him.

            Skadi flew up a few inches, her hands glowing brightly. Her eyes glazed over as she aimed at the Kree holding Dara down. Dara watched as the Kree began to slowly freeze from the inside out, Skadi using the fluids in his body. Dara wanted to point out that him being frozen on top of her made his hands frozen shut around her neck but she couldn’t because she couldn’t speak. Skadi knew this though, and once the Kree was solid ice she closed her outreached hand, causing him to shatter into a million pieces.

            Dara shot up, grasping her neck and choking until it didn’t hurt to breath. She knew she’d have a gross bruise later on. She willed the air to fill her lungs as she closed her eyes for a moment. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Skadi’s cold hands reached her back, gently rubbing circles to soothe her. Dara thankfully looked up at her outreached had to help her stand. They could still hear Gamora’s sword clashing in the next room. Skadi stared at Dara, suddenly feeling drained. Dara’s eyes scanned over her helping each other stand up.

            “Thanks.” Dara crocked once they stood. “We need to help her, get the others and call the Nova Core. Somethings not right about this place.”

            The pair charged into the room, Dara mentally swiping two Kree off to the side, Skadi following up by freezing them to the ground. Gamora finished off the other two quickly after, sheathing her sword at her hip. Without a word, Gamora reached for her radio to call Peter. She was met with static before trying again without hesitation, masking her worry. Skadi made her way to Gamora, wanting to stay as close as she could, also nervous when she heard Gamora being met with static each time she tried getting I touch with Peter.

            “Peter? Peter are you there?” Gamora said more aggressively each time, cursing herself for letting them fall into this trap.

            Dara, crossed her arms, pacing around the room waiting on instruction as to what to do next. She mindlessly started rubbing her neck, it still hurting but mostly it was her pride that took more damage. She had just been taunting Skadi, telling her she was a better fighter than the younger girl. And yet, Skadi just kicked some major ass; how she did so amazed her. She’d seen it done before but it seemed like her powers only kicked in like that when she was fueled by intense emotion. Dara took note of it, wanting to test that theory out later during their next sparing session.

            Dara halted when she noticed a pair of boots shaking underneath a desk. She smirked, shouting for Gamora’s attention before dragging the boots and the person wearing them out from underneath the desk with her bare hands. She gripped his shoulders, pulling him to stand up before flinging him across the room; he rolled to a stop a few inches away from Gamora and Skadi’s feet. He quivered on the floor, moving to sit on his knees.

            “Hey Gamora, look what I found.” Dara smirked, strutting towards her, flickering her fingers, threatening.

            “Please no, I’ll tell you anything! I’m just a techie, I don’t really want to be here. I’m just forced!” He pleaded, looking up to Gamora hoping that he’d show mercy on him.

            “Answer my questions and she won’t hurt you.” Gamora spoke tossing the communicator to Skadi asking her to keep trying Peter. “What is this place?”

            “It’s their base,” He didn’t miss a beat.

            _Coward,_ Dara thought.

            “Whose?” Gamora pressed, kneeling down to get to his level.

            “The Kree who were against the peace treaty with Xandar! They sided with Ronan when he was working with Thanos to get the Infinity Stone.”

            “And what’s going on here? Huh? What’s up with that?” Dara cut in, pointing to the screens with the scientist working on the little girl.

            “I have no part in that! Like I said I’m just a techie!”

            “That’s not the answer to my question, idiot.” Dara barked, kicking him in the leg.

            “Oh my god,” Skadi gaped, finally having a chance to look at the screen. It was all too familiar. She knew exactly what this place was the moment she saw the image on the screen. Her throat went dry and she couldn’t find the words to say, she could only watch as the poor girl appeared to cry as the scientist cut her up some more.

            “Skadi?” Gamora questioned, noting the girls shaking state; she looked paler than usual.

            “You asshole!” She ignored, staring down at the Kree. “I’ve been here before; well not here, here but to a place just like this before! This is where the Kree take the kids they’ve either kidnapped or bought off the black market to turn into their battle salves!”

            Gamora’s face softened, hesitant on what to do or say next. She thought for a moment before giving a nod towards Skadi before glaring down at the Kree tech, “You’re going to get us a good radio signal to the Nova Core and you’re going to personally help us shut this place down. Understand?”

            The Kree gulped, sweat beginning to roll down the sides of his face. His people would have his head chopped off if he helped them. He turned to look at the girls in the room. Gamora’s harsh eyes baring down on him, Skadi’s eyes flickering into an icy tempest, and Dara’s dangerously flickering her fingers about.

            “Okay, okay, I’ll help you.”


	14. I Got No Time For Private Consultation

* * *

 

            Gamora normally came off as a patient person for the most part. She could sit quietly and wait for as long as she had to; Thanos made sure of it. It was only recently did she notice how impatient she had become. She blamed the Guardians and the situations they put her in. For a time she’d always been so good at keeping herself calm and collect and it infuriated her to no end that she was rarely calm and collect anymore.

            The moment Peter and his father excused themselves to go talk privately, Gamora swooped in from her spot, leaning against one of the tall, golden walls, and made her way over to the young ex-ravager. She knew once Peter came back she’d never get a moment alone with her.

            “Skadi,” She said as she made her way over to her.

            The young girl who had been silently watching Peter and Ego walk away, reluctantly turned to look at Gamora. Skadi bit the inside of her cheek, not really knowing an excuse to not talk to the green woman. She turned to Drax as if he’d be of any help but he was distracted by the architecture of the room they were in.

            “What?” Skadi sighed, crossing her arms against her chest in defeat.

            “Can we please speak for a moment?” Gamora pleaded, stopping to stand in front of her.

            “About what now? I’m pretty sure you got your point across yesterday, Gamora.” Skadi rolled her eyes. What was Gamora’s issue? Why would she not drop this? Gamora was always one to nag but never like this.

            “Please, it’ll only take a moment.” Gamora sighed, her eyes reaching Skadi’s. The pair frowned at each other both still angry at the other. Hesitantly, Skadi nodded her head though, knowing Gamora would never drop it. Gamora smiled thankfully turning to Mantis. “Mantis? Is there a place we can go to talk in private?”

            “Yes!” Mantis perked up at being addressed. She nodded, enthusiastically eager to help. “Right down that hall, there’s a room that we don’t use.”

            Gamora thanked her before beginning to walk towards the hall Mantis pointed out. It took a couple of seconds before Skadi began to follow but she did regardless, letting her feet drag against the floor to show her unwillingness. Gamora entered the room first, doing a quick scan through, as if to make sure it wasn’t a trap.

            “Stop being so paranoid.” Skadi muttered loud enough for Gamora to hear.

            “Look, I just want to apologize.” Gamora held her hand up to silence her, ignoring her comment.

            Skadi’s annoyed face softened, thrown off. She’d been pretty sure Gamora brought her in here to lecture her some more about how they all had to be careful of Ego, keep their eyes open, and all the other things she’d already made known to her earlier.

            “Oh,” was the only thing Skadi could muster out.

            “Yes,” Gamora nodded, putting a hand on her hip, while the other motioned around as she continued to speak. “This place, it’s beautiful and I apologize but,”

            “And there’s the but,” Skadi groaned, mimicking Gamora’s stance.

            “Let me finish.” Gamora pointed her finger at her. ‘This place is beautiful and I apologize _but_ I will say that I feel a little bit more for this Ego guy. I’m not fully convinced, I still firmly think we need to watch our backs but I want to apologize for how I originally approached you all with my concerns.” Gamora said forcefully, not wanting to admit any of this to anyone. She didn’t like admitting when she was wrong but if she had to do it to anyone, she rather it be the Asgardian. Skadi wouldn’t rub it in her face like the others, she wouldn’t never let her live it down; she’d be understanding.

            “I’m sorry too.” Skadi said awkwardly, appreciating Gamora’s openness and trust.  She knew how Gamora was and she would be respectful to her in return. “I shouldn’t have acted like a child when you came to me. I was just so happy for Peter you know? He’s wanted this longer than I’ve known him and I didn’t want anyone to take that away from him.”

            “I understand,” Gamora smiled, “I will try to be more open.”

            Shortly after the two girl’s found themselves back in the main room they were in before. Mantis and Drax were no longer standing where they had been before causing the girl’s to share a nervous glance. Skadi cursed, hoping that she wouldn’t have to admit Gamora was right within the next few minutes. Gamora, not wanting to rush into assumptions kept a straight face, moving past the blonde and towards the main doors.

            “Where are you going?” Skadi asked, trailing behind.

            “I’m going looking for them. Drax properly wanted to see more of the castle.” Gamora shrugged.

            She tried to open the main doors but found they were locked. Again she tried to keep her composure, moving along the hallway, noting how the diagrams were still showcased. Gamora could hear Skadi’s clunky boots following after her quickly and sighed. Peeking down into the halls as they passed them Gamora heard or saw no sign of Drax and Mantis.

            “Where did Ego say he was taking Peter?” Gamora halted, asking Skadi.

            “Outside, but the doors were locked.” Skadi frowned.

            “Hmhm,” Gamora pouted her lip, “Those can’t be the only doors that lead outside.”

            Gamora pressed forward determined to find someone. Were Mantis and Ego the only two in this place? Gamora hadn’t thought about it before but it was awfully strange that they were the only two people they’d seen so far.

            Eventually, Gamora found another tall door, at the very end of the hall the pair had walked down. She pressed her ears to it, trying to hear anything on the other side. She felt herself relax when she could hear two voices. She turned to Skadi with a calming look on her face.

            “They’re out here.” Gamora said before slowly pushing the door open.

            Both Drax and Mantis appeared, sitting on the steps overlooking the sunset.

            “Drax, there is something I must tell-,” Mantis began, stopping when she heard the doors open. They both turned to see Gamora and Skadi coming out from the castle.

            “What’s going on?” Gamora raised an eyebrow, overhearing Mantis.

            “I am learning many things!” Mantis shoots out, instantly putting away what she was going to tell Drax. She feared what the angry green lady would do to her if she heard what she was going to tell Drax. “I’m a pet and I’m ugly!”

            “Drax!” Gamora scolded,

            “You’re not ugly.” Skadi tried to reassure as Gamora reprimanded Drax.

            Drax was confused as to why they didn’t’ see what he saw. He pointed to Mantis, who smiled, as if her ugliness proved itself. Skadi and Gamora rolled their eyes at the pair; they both wanted to laugh a bit at the same time. Mantis and Drax were quite the pair.

            “Mantis,” Gamora said tiredly. “Could you show us where we’ll be staying?”

            Mantis took them across a long walk way, showing off more of the field and scenery that surrounded the castle. Gamora swore she’d get eye-strain from this place by the end of this trip; along with a massive headache from the content stress. She wanted to question Mantis about what she was about to tell Drax and so _smoothly_ played off as nothing but she kept her mouth shut. She just made up with Skadi and she didn’t want to start back at square one. Instead she asked a different question that’d been currently on her mind.

            “Are you and Ego the only beings on this planet?”

            “The planet is Ego.” Mantis answered, almost automatically. Like she’d been asked before, Gamora noted. “A dog would not invite fleas to live on his back.”

            “And you’re not a flea?” Gamora pressed, knowing that this girl was hiding something.

            “I am a flea with a purpose.” Mantis replied, again robotically.

            Gamora halted her steps, letting Mantis walk a few steps forward. She bit her tongue willing herself to end it there, already sensing Skadi’s eyes on the back of her head. She felt the girl walk past her and closed her eyes, knowing that she was messing up.

            “What were you about to say to Drax before we walked out?”

            Gamora opened her eyes, shocked that those words hadn’t come from her own mouth. Instead it was Skadi who asked. Gamora stared up at her as the girl curled around Mantis, cutting her off and causing her to halt. All three Guardians, even Drax couldn’t deny the worry that clustered on Mantis’s face. She nervously played with her own hands, trying to think of a way out of this situation.

            “Nothing.” She said, guilty like Groot when the Guardian’s caught him lying about something.

            “Really? It sounded like you were going to say something?” Skadi pushed, talking as if she was in fact talking to Groot. “It seemed important, maybe we could help?”

            Gamora stood up straight, eyeing Mantis along with Skadi and Drax. The girl was nervous, intimated by them but still shook her head. She moved on, walking past Skadi without giving the others eye contact.

            “Your quarters are this way.” She spoke.

            The three Guardians shared a look, all on edge suddenly, knowing that something was off about this girl. Drax shrugged, knowing that there was nothing they could do about it now and began to follow the bug lady again. Gamora and Skadi shared a knowing look. Skadi now believed Gamora a little bit more, something was wrong. Gamora smiled at her, letting her know everything would be alright and also gave her a thankful touch on the shoulder as she walked past her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I've been working nonstop and haven't had a second to post or do anything besides sleep and work and eat lol.
> 
> I saw Captain Marvel finally yesterday tho! It was okay, I loved the Kree and Skrulls, but I'm not a huge fan of Carol in the comics and she was okay in the movie, I didn't hate her but I didn't love her. Jude Law was beautiful but I expected that lol. I wish Korath and Ronan were in it more tho. 
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you guys think about this chapter :) Where do you guys think I'm taking this? Are you excited to see what comes next after Vol 2 is done? 


	15. Just The Other Side Of The Border

* * *

 

Rocket hit the ground hard as he was thrown into his new cell on the Eclector. Yondu was thrown next, equally as hard besides him. They pair looked up to see Taserface, surrounded by other Ravagers locking them in. Rocket bared his teeth in frustration as Taserface sneered down at them.

            “We’ll deliver you to the Kree in the morning, Udonta. And I’ll make the call to the Sovereign now for you.” Taserface smirked, “Neither one of you gonna last much longer after that.”

            Rocket, always in need of having the last word crawled towards them, letting his small hands grasped the bars. “Okay Taserface! See you later, Taserface! Hey Taserface, tell the other guys we said hi, Taserface!”

            Taserface glances down at the rodent, spiting at him before turning on his heel and leaving. His crew follows him quickly, trying to hide their amusement caused by Rocket. Gef, holding Groot’s cage rushes up to Taserface, trying to forget Rocket’s jokes and get back to the matter at hand.        

            “What about the little plant? Can I smash it with a rock?” he asked, Groot letting out a yell from his cage.

            “No, it’s too adorable to kill. Bring it to the tailor.” Taserface barked before disbursing from the group.

            Rocket walked from his spot, watching helplessly as Groot was taken away from him. He cursed to himself, hoping the little guy could handle himself. Letting go of the bars and wiping his face clean of Taserface’s spit he turned to face Yondu.

            “No offense but your employees are a bunch of jerks.”

            Yondu smirked, shaking his head at karma finally catching up to him. He knew something like this was bound to happen eventually. He’d gone soft and you can’t go soft if you want to be a captain of your own Ravager crew.

            “I was a Kree battle-slave for twenty years when Stakar freed me.” Yondu spoke allowed, not quite sure why. “He offered me a place in the Ravagers; said all I needed to do what adhere to the code. But I was young and greedy, and _stupid_ like you for stealing those batteries.”

            Yondu eyes Rocket up and down. He’d only met the creature once before and briefly at that. From his first meeting with him he wasn’t surprised that the rodent gotten himself in this situation either. One of the first things he did back when they were trying to make the plan to defeat Ronan, he tried stealing Vorker’s eye. He was loud, brash, and arrogant; he remind Yondu of himself back when Stakar first found him.

            “That was mostly Drax,” Rocket deflected.

            “Me and Stakar, and the other captains,” Yondu ignored him, knowing he was just lying. “We weren’t so different from you and your friends. The only family I ever had, but I broke the code and they exiled me. These ones here are the ones who followed me after what I did, of course they’re jerks. It’s what I deserve.”

            “Slow down, drama queen.” Rocket snorted, not interested in his story at all. “You might deserve this but I don’t. We gotta get out of here.”

            “Where’s Quill and Hunt?” Yondu shook his head at him and asked. He was surprised when he didn’t see them on Berhert.

            “They went off with Quill’s old man.”

            “Ego?” Yondu looked concerned. Rocket was quick to pick on it too, noting the blue man’s eyes widen at this.

            “Yeah, it’s a day for dumbass names.” Rocket said hesitantly not knowing if he should care enough to ask why Yondu looked so troubled. His comment made Yondu snicker making Rocket somewhat proud of himself until he saw his teeth showing. Rocket grimaced at them

            “You smiled and for a second I got a warm feeling, but then it was ruined by those disgusting ass teeth.” He teased.

            “You like a professional asshole or something?” Yondu stopping snickering, glaring daggers at the rodent.

            “Pretty much a pro.” Rocket shrugged, taking the compliment. “Why didn’t you deliver Quill to Ego like you promised?”

            “He was skinny, could fit into place we couldn’t good for thieving.” Yondu spoke narrowly.

            “I can sense that that’s a load of b.s.” Rocket laughed, crossing his arms. “What was the real reason?”

            “I thought you didn’t care about that stuff?” Yondu smirked at him.

            Rocket straightened himself up, not wanting to seem that he cared. He didn’t; he was just curious. He didn’t picture Yondu as the type of guy to just taken in a kid and the responsibility that came with one just for _thieving._ He knew there was a different reason.

            “That’s not the answer to my question.” Rocket said harshly.

            “I have an idea on how to get outta here. But we’re gonna need your little friend.” Yondu continued to ignore his question, not ready himself to talk about the real reason why he took Peter.

            It wasn’t until later on, after hours of the pair sitting in awkward silence did they see Groot’s shadow, moping down the hall. He walked down the hall, towards their cell looking traumatized with his head down and shoulder slumped forward. His clothes were torn and he was soaked in some wet substance.

            “Hey twig, c’mere.” Yondu whispered, ushering him to come forward.      

            Rocket felt a pang in his chest as he took in Groot’s appearance. His usual bright eyes were dull. He looked at Rocket with sad eyes, dripping wet from head to toe. Rocket walked up to the bars, wanting to reach out and give the tree a hug and tell him he’d get those bastards back.

            “What’d they do to you?” Rocket muttered,

            “Hey,” Yondu cut in, knowing that Rocket was too distracted to focus. “You wanna help us get outta here?”

            Groot looked up, a small spark returning to him. He nodded his head vigorously. Rocket looked unsure, Rocket was too young to handle most things still. There was no way the little guy would be able to understand Yondu.

            “There’s something I need you to get and bring back to me.” Yondu waited until Groot nodded again to continue. “In the Cap’n’s quarters, there’s a prototype fin, like the thing I wore on my head? There’s a drawer next to the bed. It’s inside that; it’s red. You got it?”

            Groot nods frantically, ready to get off of this ship as soon as possible. He races off without another word while Yondu looks at Rocket pleased. Rocket meets his pleased face with an uncertain one, his face scrunching up in a fake smile.

            Fifteen minutes later they both heard Groot’s little feet pattering against the metal floors, racing back to them to show them what he found.  He stands in front of them both, smiling cheek to cheek proud of his work. He holds up a pair of shorts, beaming up at them. Yondu takes a moment to blink, making sure that that’s really what he was seeing. When he learnt that there was no way his eyes were playing tricks on him he opened his mouth to speak.

            “That’s my underwear.” He deadpanned.

            “Yeah,” Rocket cut in, “I was pretty sure he didn’t know what the hell you were talking about. You have to explain it more carefully.”

            “All right,” Yondu took a deep breath, feeling as if he was going back to when he first started training Quill. “It’s a pro-to-type fin,”

            Once again the pair found themselves another fifteen minutes later with Groot standing in front of them with something besides the fin. He stood holding up a wriggling tied up Orloni above his head. Rocket shook his head, not understanding why Groot hated Orloni’s so much. This time Rocket tried explaining what Groot was supposed to be looking for; third time was always a charm, right?

            “That’s Vorker’s eye.” Yondu glared at Rocket, as Groot stood holding up the eye. “He takes it out when he goes to sleep.”

            Groot, disappointed in himself and frustrated at them for not giving clearer instructions began to slink off with the eye dropping to the flooring. He began to drag it behind him as he started to walk off to try again.

            “No, leave the eye here.” Rocket called after him.

            “Why?” Yondu questioned, wanting to know what his obsession with this guy’s eye was.

            “Because!” Rocket could barely speak, finding this so funny. “He’s gonna wake up and not know where his eye is!”

            “Ugh,” Yondu groans letting his head fall back and hit the wall next to him. At this rate they’d never get out of here. How did Peter manage to survive this long with these two on his team?

            The pattern returns for nearly the next hour. Groot would come back with random objects, Rocket and Yondu would both take turns trying to explain what the fin was and were to find it to no avail. Groot would brought them a table, a pair of shoes, another Orloni but what made the pair completely speechless was the one Groot was currently presenting to them at the moment;  they both stared in horror and slight disgust as Groot presented them with a human toe.

            “Please tell me you guys have a refrigerator somewhere with a bunch of severed human toes?” Rocket asked Yondu, his eyes not leaving the toe. Yondu’s grunt made it clear that they didn’t. “Okay, then let’s just agree to never discuss this.”

            Yondu nods in agreement as Groot dropped the toe at his feet. Yondu ripped the Ravager patch off of his own jacket, handing it to Groot through the bars. He gained the little tree’s attention and started to instruct him again.

            “The drawer you want to open has this symbol on it, okay?”

            Groot takes the metal in his hands. It was a little too heavy and he wasn’t quite sure how this would help him find this so called fin they kept telling him about. Regardless he nodded, slowly placing it on top of his head, staring up at them as he held it there.

            “What? No!” Yondu couldn’t help but shout, causing Groot too jump. He was bewildered; he’d never have these problems with Peter as a kid and he was a really tough kid.

            “He thinks you want him to wear it as a hat.” Rocket translated without Groot needing to speak.

            “I didn’t even say the word hat!”

            Groot, offended took it off his head though he was happy that wearing the stupid metal as a hat wasn’t what Yondu had originally meant. He pouted at Yondu and stomped his foot in frustration. He just wanted to go home.  He spoke making sure to do so with an attitude to the big blue man.

            “He’s relieved that you don’t want him to wear it as a hat.” Rocket told Yondu.

            “I am Groot.”

            “He hates hats; on anyone not just himself”

            “I am Groot.”

            “One minute you think someone has a weird shaped head and then the next it’s just because you realize part of that head is a hat.” Rocket said, then realized what he was saying. “Wait? That’s why you don’t like hats?”

            “I am Groot.”

            “Okay but that-,”

            “Is this an important conversion to be having right now?” Yondu cut in. He turned to Groot, “Let’s try this one more time.”

            Groot once again found himself creeping through the hallways of the Eclector moments after the whole hat debacle. He went back into the captain’s quarters and back to Taserface’s snoring and slobbering in his bed. Groot tossed the badge up onto the bed besides him before growing his vines up the bed, pulling himself back up. Groot grasps the badge and looked fearfully around the room. This was his last chance to find the fin, he could let Rocket down.

             He finally spots the symbol on the night stand drawer near the bed. Staring down at the symbol in his hands and then back at the drawer, then back at the symbol and back again at the drawer just to be safe he confirmed that that was the drawer he needed. He wanted to be very, very, very, very sure that they were the same. He creeps carefully towards the drawer, growing his vines out to grab the handle and pull it open slowly. He peers inside spotting the red fin instantly. Groot smiled triumphantly before reaching to grab the item; he halted though seeing something else catch his eyes causing him to forget his entire mission. He smiled hugely, picking up the tin of candies.

            “That ain’t it.” Kraglin’s voice appeared out of nowhere.

             Groot swirled around to see him standing in the doorway, looming over him. Groot gaped intimidated, as Kraglin took a step forward.

           


	16. Oh, Honey Bring It To Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my computer was being stupid for the last week and a half so I was unable to update as soon as I originally wanted too but what else is new lol. It works out a little better though because I was nervous I'd finish this before Endgame comes out. I probably will but I'll be able to start the next part by the time I see it sooooo that's good! LOL
> 
> let me know what you guys think of this chapter in the comments :) I think you guys will like it

* * *

 

Peter Quill couldn’t have been anymore content than he was at this moment. He had just gotten back from his talk with his father and he was still playing it over in his mind. He’d always wanted to play catch with his dad as a kid and he finally was able to. He also found out about who he was really; he found out about his powers and how his father was basically a God.

            He stared out into the horizon, lightly humming along to the music playing from his Walkman that was connected to a small, jerry-rigged speaker system nearby. He smirked, hearing Skadi moving around the room that they would be sharing. His father made sure to give them a room far away from the others, stating how he understood how stressful it must be never getting any private time with the woman you loved.

            He turned from the view and looked to her with a smirk. Skadi had been looking through the bookshelf that was in their room. She scanned the titles, a few sticking out to her and making note to try and read them before they left; if they left. The look on Peter’s face when he joined her in their room earlier told her that they’d be here for a while. She still tried to smile through it; through him telling her about how his talk with his father went. She was still trying to process it all.

            She didn’t hear his footsteps coming towards her as she picked a book out from the shelf, opening it to scan it quickly. The title jumped out to her and made her eyes widen in eagerness; the title read _Asgard: A History_. She halted when she reached the first page, instantly hearing Gamora’s voice in her head. _“Don’t you think this is awfully convenient?”_ it spoke.

            She gasped, closing the book shut when she felt Peter’s hands snake around her waist. He rested his head on her shoulder, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. “What’cha reading?”

            “Nothing,” She stuttered, startled. She placed the book on the chair that rest near the bookshelf. She turned to face Peter with a smile. “Don’t sneak up on me,” She teased, placing her hands on his chest, not wanting him to look at the book.

            “It’s fun though.” He chuckled, kissing her again, taking the time to enjoy it.

            When he pulled away, he gently pulled her closer to him, resting a hand on the small of her back while grabbing her left hand, leading her to sway from side to side. She looked up at him questionably, wondering what he was doing. He looked down at her, answering her question by forcing her to twirl.

            “Dance with me.” He asked, though it sounded more like an order.

            Amused by his antics, Skadi chuckled, trying to hide the blush that arose across her pale cheeks. Peter gave her another kiss but on her nose this time, swaying them back and forth some more. He eventually led them to the center of the room, giving him enough space to twirl her again. When she spun back into him he dipped her quickly before bringing her back up to him.

            “We don’t have Drax to come barging in on us.” Peter stated randomly, wiggling his eyebrows. “I locked the door.”

            “Oh did you now?” Skadi smirked up at him, still letting herself be swayed back and forth by him. Inching her way closer to him, resting her head against his chest, closing her eyes, completely trying to enjoy this moment with him.

            “Yeah I did and his room is halls and halls away from here so there’s no way he’ll interrupt us.” Peter went on, nuzzling the top of her head with his chin.

            “Interrupt us from what?” Skadi said, playing dumb, wanting to tease him as much as she could.

            Peter pouted his lips, raising his head from hers. He lightly pushed her off from resting against him, letting go of her hand. He reached out to pick her head up to look at his, lowering his lips to hers once again relishing in the uninterrupted privacy they finally had. He lowered his hand on her back until it reached her bottom, giving it a light squeeze before letting his other hand drop as well. He hoisted her up with all his strength and let her legs straddle his hips.

            “Oh, from that?” She questioned, biting his lip seductively with her teeth.

            Peter grunted as an answer, attacking her neck with kisses and nips. Skadi gripped onto his jacket, taking in the smell of him before running a hand through his hair and giving it a tug. Peter took the hint, not wanting to rush but also finally excited to have the chance to do this with her. Impatiently he brought her to the bed, dropping her onto it without grace. As she hit the bed, he had already taken his jacket off and thrown it across the room. He began to take off his holsters and belt as she stood up to kneel onto the bed, pushing his hands away so she could pull his shirt off.

            When it was gone he moved faster, incredibly turned on by her actions. As he finished taking off his belt, she ran her hands across his chest before taking off her own jacket and shirt, and then began taking off her boots. When they hit the floor Peter wasted no time to shove her backwards onto the bed, intending to take the rest of her clothes off within seconds. True to his intent, Skadi laid naked beneath him, unbuckling his pants herself, determined to return the favor.

            Once all their clothes were strewn across the room, they found themselves underneath the covers, taking each other in a slow but in a hurry tangle of limbs. Peter had been with many girls in his adult life but not like this. Usually he’d rush into it wanting to only please himself, but hearing Skadi’s soft gasps whenever he moved to touch her he wanted to please her more than himself.  He kissed every inch of skin he could, lingering over the few scars that littered her soft skin.

            Skadi never felt this at peace before; her mind was completely numb as Peter and her meshed their bodies together. If waiting this long for this was the reason why it felt so good Skadi was glad they waited. There was no Drax barging in on them, no Dara and Rocket yelling about something right outside their door; no it was just the two of them and it felt more than good.

            She didn’t know how long they’d been at it, it felt like forever but it also felt like it went by too quick as Skadi had found herself snuggled against his chest, listening to his heavy but content breaths. She felt her eyes close as Peter ran his fingers through her soft hair and hummed to herself. Peter was smirking ear to ear, images of their time together still fresh in his memory. He used his free hand to rub the sweat from his forehead before settling deeper into the comfy bed. It only took a few minutes before the pair were knocked out, still exhausted from everything that had happened over the last few days and now their little activities under the sheets.

            It wasn’t until the sun shined through the open balcony did Skadi stir in her sleep. She’d always been a light sleeper and not even Peter’s arm shielding her body could stop the sun from waking her up. She slowly opened her eyes, still feeling relaxed from the night prier. She moved around a bit, trying to free herself from Peter without waking him up. Peter’s music had stopped playing long ago and the only sound that could be heard was from the breeze outside.

            She turned to look at him, seeing that he was still completely knocked out. Laughing at the trail of drool coming out of his mouth, she gently raised his arm off from her. Crawling off the bed, she looked around for her clothes before deciding to put on another set she brought with her. She quietly grabbed her backpack and made her way to the bathroom attached to their room. Once inside she first let herself freshen up. Letting the water run for a few seconds before splashing her face with it over the sink. She grab a towel, wetting it before cleaning the rest of her quickly. She threw on a simple pair of black leggings and mesh like t-shirt with a dark blue tank underneath on. Braiding her hair into two long braids, she decided that she looked good enough.

            Her stomach growled in hunger; she hadn’t eaten since they were on Ego’s ship. As she left the bathroom and plopped her bag onto the floor near the bookshelf, which was near the bathroom door, she frowned. She’d forgotten about that book from last night. Moving quickly to the chair, thankful she hadn’t put her boots on yet, she picked up the book. Not wanting to wake Peter up she grabbed her boots and the book before exiting the room, quietly closing the door behind her.


	17. Their Breath Fades With The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone :) Sorry I've been m.i.a. again (no surprise there); I've been super busy and put of updating for a two reasons. 
> 
> Firstly, I've started a new job recently and I'm working close to fifty hours a week soooooo whenever I do get some spare time I'm usually trying to catch up on sleep or am just really tired and don't want to go on my computer. Luckily now that I'm all trained I'm getting more time off so I should have more time to get back into writing. 
> 
> Secondly, I pretty much have everything written out for this, just need to edit a few parts here and there BUT much like I did for Blue Monday, I want to wait to really get write the ending until I see the new Avengers. There's two ways I want to take this story but it really depends on what happens in Endgame which way I go so I have this chapter and the next that won't really set that in stone so I'm going to hold off until after Thursday night to make my final finishing touches on this and then I'll get to start writing the next part! 
> 
> So with that being said, you guys might get another chapter Sunday or you might not get one until next weekend lol. Let me know where you guys think I might take this or what you want to see Skadi get up too in the comments :)

* * *

 

** SIX WEEKS AGO **

            Gamora oversaw the Kree’s work as he opened a line of communication to the Nova Core. Gamora wanted them to come in as back up; she intended to shut this base down but knew they’d need help in doing so. She’d already warned the tech that if he’d try anything she’d give him a fate worse than death, reminding him who her father was. She hated using Thanos as a threat but it was usually the only one that would work every time.

            Skadi waited impatiently near the exit, keeping watch with Dara. The both stood silently for a long time, either not knowing a conversation starter. Upon revealing this had been the same type of place Skadi had been taken too as a child, Dara wanted to say something to help the girl feel more at ease but couldn’t find the words. Dara tried her hardest to find them when she caught Skadi eyeing the screen that still painfully showed the little girl being tested on.

            “We’re gonna put a stop to this.” Dara finally said, quietly.

            “To this one. There are still hundreds of Kree outposts like this one.” Skadi said with a hint of menace to her that Dara never heard before.

            “Yes, but,- okay you’re right.” Dara had attempted to sound all inspiring but she wasn’t going to lie to the girl. “There will always be terrible people in this world, no matter how we try we will never change that.”

            “But?” Skadi questioned when Dara went silent again. Dara looked to her confused, unsure what the girl meant. “There’s always a but?”

            “Not always, kid.” Dara smirked, eyeing Skadi with an expecting look. “Unless, you have any ideas that might change that?” 

            Skadi huffed, eying the screen again, feeling her blood boil at the sight. She didn’t know how many children were here or how many were already being sold off to their new owners. Her eyes flickered to the screen showing the shipment, pushing herself off the wall she leaned against when she saw how the boxes weren’t really boxes. They looked like them to anyone who wasn’t familiar to a place like this but to anyone who was what this place was knew they were transporters; they were what the Kree put the children in when they were being sold off. There were kids inside of them and Skadi wouldn’t allow this to continue.

            “But I’m at least going to make sure that ship doesn’t take off.” Skadi made her way to the doorway. “That ship will take off before the Nova Core gets here.”

            “Hold up,” Dara grabbed her arm, halting her. “You can’t take them alone.”

            “Then come with me and be quiet about it before Gamora hears us leave.”

            Dara didn’t know what possessed her to listen to Skadi, but there she was following the girl out of the door. She shook her head as the girl led her down the halls, blindly. Skadi wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it; she was angry and determined to get to the hanger. Dara tried to call out to her, warning her that they had to be careful but the girl didn’t listen. She was ready to get some sort of revenge on the people who took her away from her home or wherever she was from. They had to be the reason why she couldn’t remember anything; it was probably from the tests they did before selling you off.

            Dara hissed as she could hear a group of footsteps coming up from behind them. She turned around to see another patrol unit coming their way. Dara readied herself for a fight, charging herself at them, expecting for Skadi to follow in her footsteps but the moment she was too far and already throwing fists she saw that Skadi ditched her: the stupid girl ditched her. Dara let out a loud yell in anger, ready to make her way through these guys so she could go beat the crap out of the Asgardian.

            Gamora was back in the room, hearing footsteps approaching the room. She asked Dara and Skadi who it was, the Kree tech having to disable some of the camera’s near them to revert the power and disrupt the radio static to get through to the Nova Core. Gamora’s messaged transmitted with no problem, Denarian Dey, responding back and saying that a fleet of Nova ships were on their way and for them to hang tight.

            When neither girls answered Gamora, she whipped her head around in anger of having to repeat herself. Her anger only grew when she saw that they weren’t standing there. Before she could even move, figures entered the room. She unsheathed her sword, ready to pounce but falter when she saw the familiar red eyes from Peter’s mask. Peter came in, blasters aiming into the room with Rocket aiming his own gun and Drax clutching onto his knives. He saw Gamora and holstered one of his blasters before disabling his mask.

            “Gamora?” He asked, relieved to have seen her.

            “Where are they?” She seethed, gripping the Godslayer tightly, her knuckling turning a lighter shade of green.

            “What are you doing calling the Nova Core? I picked up your signal and we had to rush over here to see what’s up!” Rocket shouted, not hearing her talk. He jumped down from his spot making his way over to her to see that computer. He noted the Kree, cowardly looking at them all. “Who’s this guy?”

            “Where are they!” She repeated again, loudly, glaring at the floor.

            Peter looked around, confused at her words until he too was wondering the same thing. He didn’t see Skadi or Dara, who were supposed to be with Gamora. “Where’s Skadi? And Dara?”

            “They were supposed to be guarding the door.” She hissed, turning back to the Kree, ordering him to restore the camera’s fully.

            “What do you mean supposed to be? Well where’d they go? How did you not hear them leave?” Peter shouted, making his way to join her. He began to grow nervous, worrying over Skadi.

            “I was trying to get backup, this is bigger than we originally thought Peter. I thought I could trust them to stay put.” Gamora shouted back at him, not in the mood.

            “Ha!” Drax’s laugh was suddenly heard, causing them all to turn and look to him.

            They followed his gaze, he was staring at the screens showing the still active cameras. They could see Dara getting her ass handed to her by a group of Kree soldiers, using some sort of zappers to electrocute her if she got to close to them. Gamora and Peter’s gaze quickly moved to the next screen, mouth open in shock and anger. Skadi was in the hanger, fighting off the Kree loading the ship.

            “What is she doing?” Peter gasped, activating his mask to go after her.

            “Being stupid.” Gamora hissed, ordering Rocket to stay with the Kree.          

            The group quickly made their way through the halls, Rocket staying behind to watch the Kree tech and await Nova’s arrival. As they ran further into the halls, they could hear Dara’s grunts and yells as she was still locked in battle with the Kree patrol unit. Dara didn’t want to admit that she was relieved to see her three teammates but she was glad it was them instead of Kree reinforcements.

            Drax barreled into the Kree, knocking them down, using his knives to swipe up and down at them. Gamora leaped in shortly after, taking down her own with her trusted Godslayer while Peter stood back using his blasters to take down the rest from afar. Once all the Kree were on the floor either groaning in pain or completely knocked out, Dara muttered out a thanks. In reply Gamora seethed in anger, pushing past the Badoon.

            “We need to move to get to the hanger.”

            Dara glared at the ground as Peter was next to brush shoulders with her, quickly following after Gamora.

            Inside of the hanger Skadi stood up after having had to jump out of the way of an onslaught of bullets raining down at her. She took cover behind a small ship, peeking out to see if she had a chance to attack. She was met with more fire, seeing a group of Kree break off to try and get closer to her. Cursing, she closed her eyes angry at herself for doing this. She let her emotions get the better of herself, instead of waiting until Nova came here to help. But she knew she wouldn’t live with herself if she knew what was happening here and let that ship take off.

            Memories of her time on Hala, the Kree home world, flashed through her head; she wouldn’t let these kids suffer what she did.  Feeling the same power rush through her veins like back on Ronan’s ship, she reopened her eyes; they were glazed over and glowing. She let out a battle cry, feeling a cold snap course through her, slamming her hands on the ground in anger.

            The ground cracked, ice shooting forward, rapidly making its way to the Kree shooting at her from across the hanger. The ice froze them in their spots, slowly encasing them where they stood until they were like statues, spikes sticking up from the ground surrounding them. Standing, Skadi could feel the heat drain from their bodies as she engulfed them. Somehow feeling the hurried footsteps of the half that broke off to ambush her coming closer, she whipped her body around just in time. They rounded the corner, revealing themselves from behind the ship and took aim on her. Before a shot could reach her though, Skadi’s hand rose, halting them in an instant.

            Like she had once done before on Rocket, she glazed over the holes of their guns with a thick sheet of ice, causing nothing to come out of them, the ice breaking all the insides of the guns. They looked at her irksomely, tossing the weapons to the side and charging after her. She took off into the air, avoiding them easily; she had no idea where this sudden instinct and dare she say _talent_ over her powers came from, she could only think of being fueled by raw emotions and determination to be the cause. As she floated in the air, readying herself to shoot a hailstorm down on them, she heard engines blaring.

            Turning to see the cargo ship had been loaded and now preparing to take off, she cursed to herself, leaving the Kree below and charging through the air to make it to the ship before it took off. She could see the docking bay doors sliding open, other workers below rushing to get the ship out before the rest of the Guardians arrived.

            The blonde took a deep breath, letting herself be surrounded by bitter cold, letting her power be known to those below. She cried out as she shot out the largest blast of ice she’d ever remembered creating, aiming it down at the cargo ship. As the blast crashed into the left side of it though, it still began to inch forward as the doors were fully opened. The ship took the damage but it wasn’t enough to stop it.

            Just as the ship rose and began to jet off and out of the docking bay, the Guardians finally made their way into the open room. Peter took a moment to take the area in, his eyes frantically searching for his girlfriend, hoping that they weren’t too late. He could see the aftermath of her, the Kree who had been frozen in place, a trail of ice and cracked earth leading up to their feet. He looked up, feeling a cold breeze coming from above and gaped as he saw Skadi up above, shooting down at the cargo ship.

            He felt a pang of pride wash over him, never believing that he’d see this. He knew he should have more faith in her but it wasn’t until recently did she really have this much control over her powers. He was used to the days when it’s take her forever to warm up just to muster a small gust of cold wind. Peter felt proud, watching her up there, as the others went off to help subdue the rest of the Kree. But that pride soon left him just as quickly as it arrived the moment he heard the sickening sound of a heat gun being fired and battering against the blonde from behind.


	18. And As I Rode Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've seen Endgame two times now and all I can still say is damn, that was such a great movie. It was everything I wanted and a hundred times more. I loved every moment of it and was balling my eyes out by the end of the film. In honor of how amazing it was I'll be posting two chapters up today lol.

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Kraglin was beyond anxious as he gripped the fin in his hand, making his way to the cells. Groot quietly munched on his candy, completely oblivious to Kraglin distress. The Ravager knew he should’ve never spoke up back on Berhert, he should’ve waited until he could’ve talked to the Captain in private to voice his concerns; he couldn’t pin point what made him just snap like that and now be one of the reasons why half the crew was dead and his captain was now going to be sold off to the Kree.  As the cell came into view, he knew he would make this right and help get revenge for his fallen comrades; he’d make it up to the Captain. 

            He stood in front of the cell, trying to hide his nervousness. He plops the fin he helped the little tree retrieve down in front of the cell. Yondu and Rocket, who were previously giving up hope that Groot would be successful looked up to see Kraglin, holding Groot. Groot looked at Rocket proudly, happy that he succeeded in his mission whereas Kraglin looked at Yondu regretfully.

            “I didn’t mean to do a mutiny. They killed all my friends.” Kraglin sighed, hoping that Yondu would forgive him.

            Yondu simply nodded, not for a moment having to think about forgiving Kraglin. His first mate had been right back on Berhert, he did constantly favor Peter and Skadi over him when he was there just as long as they had and had been more faithful they ever had been.

            “Go get the third quadrant ready for release.” Yondu ordered.

            His response would’ve come off as cold to anyone else, but this was his way of forgiveness and also saying that he too for sorry. Kraglin’s response confirmed this as well, as he saluted the Captain before heading off to get to work. Before he could fully make his way away from the cell, he let Groot hop down from his shoulder, giving Rocket time to smirk up at him.

            “You got any clones of Quill’s old music on the ship?”

            About an hour later Rocket smirked as the somewhat familiar song rang through the speakers of the ship. He remembered hearing this song on Quill’s Vol 1. Mix and actually smiled at the tune. He’d never admit out loud but he actually enjoyed listening to the songs, it was just Quill’s singing he could do without.

            Rocket hummed along to the tune as he finished attaching Yondu’s fin to his head. Once all the electrical systems were on, Yondu let out a whistle, hearing the cell gates opening. His arrow shot off the shelf of supplies Kraglin left them from behind them, flying towards the two Ravagers who desperately tried to un-holster their pistols in time. They were too late as the arrow pierced through them both, zooming out into the hallway and going through anyone in its path.

            The arrow comes back to Yondu, who catches it with ease before standing up. Sauntering past the two Ravagers as they squirm in pain on the ground, he waits for Rocket and Groot to follow. On the way out of the door, Rocket looks down and sees the Ravagers pistols. His eyes widened as he reaches down to snatch them up.

            The three swiftly make their way to the quadrant, easily making taking out anyone who tried stopping them. The hoard of Ravagers didn’t stand a chance the moment Yondu licked his lips and let out that deadly whistle. Rocket would’ve usually complained about not having any left to shoot himself but he quite enjoyed seeing the Ravagers falling down around him, as the music played loudly in the background.

            Even Groot was enjoying himself, especially after seeing the Ravager, Retch, who had poured his drink on him and wanted to smash him with a rock. Groot sees Retch start to back up in terror but Groot knows that he won’t get away from him. He stretches out his little branches to pull him towards him; Retch was surprised at how strong the little guy was. Letting out a howl, Groot trips Retch with his branches, causing him to crash against the floor harshly. Before Retch could get up, Groot wraps his branches around Retch’s legs again, flinging him off the edge of the cat walk they stood on.

            Rocket told himself he shouldn’t be proud and he knew he was still just a kid but with his family’s line of work the little tree’s actions couldn’t help but be proud as Groot climbed up on Rockets shoulders. Like the toe incident this was something they just wouldn’t talk about with the other guardians.

            Eventually they reach a room with security monitors encircling them, letting them see all the Ravagers filing towards them from every part of the ship. Rocket starts shooting holes in the walls, letting the blasts his any Ravager trying to enter the room. Yondu uses the monitors to aim his arrow, striking down his own set of Ravagers.

            Yondu finally saw Taserface marching down the hall towards them. Yondu was not at all intimidated by his huge gun and instead whistles, loudly and angrily. Taserface saw the arrow coming towards him and dodged it easily, laughing out loud. Yondu smirks, as the arrow zooms past him and into a giant gas tank.

            Once Taserface realizes what happened it was too late, the explosion was already shaking the ship and setting it on fire. Rocket stood dumbfounded as he sees all the explosions setting off throughout the ship. He turns to Yondu, fearful for himself and Groot.

            “You maniac! The whole ship is gonna blow!”

            Yondu smirks down at the raccoon as a response, leading them towards the side door of the room. They entered what appeared to be a flight deck. Kraglin was already sitting at one of the pilot seats, waiting for orders.

            “Release the quadrant.” Yondu ordered.

            “Aye’ Capn’.” Kraglin nodded, pulling on a lever.

            The room jerked forward and to the side before detecting from the larger ship, now free from the destruction. Kraglin opens the jump point access window for Yondu but Rocket quickly snatches the screen, knowing that there was only one place they should go.

            “We’re going to Ego.”

            “No! Boy!” Yondu tries to stop him before it’s too late but the quadrant is already trembling as they enter the next jump point.

            ”It ain’t healthy for a mammalian body to jump over fifty jumps at a time!” Yondu tried explaining as he could start to feel the effects of the jump points take place.

            “I know that!” Rocket shouted matter factually.

            “Oh yeah?” Yondu yelled, “We’re about to do seven-hundred!”

            Rocket frowned, letting his ears drop in realization. “Opps.”


	19. Might Have Known What You Would Find

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the chapter I've been waiting to post since the beginning of writing this series. I'm so excited to finally get to post it and see what you guys think :)

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                Ego had been watching the girl who captured his son’s heart like a hawk for nearly an hour now. She had been so consumed in the book he left for her in her room that she didn’t even noticed him from afar; he knew she’d find it interesting, he thought to himself smiling. The moment he found out his son was romantically involved with an Asgardian he knew that his son hit the jackpot whether his son knew it or not. The girl was a keeper, not just for her strong bloodline but because she was perfect for his son. She was supportive, and eager to make Peter happy; she seemed to look out for his best interest which pleased Ego.

            He watched as she quietly munched on some fruit that Mantis had probably given her, flipping another page. The celestial decided to come out from the shadows, knowing he gave her enough time to herself before revealing himself. His footsteps clicked against the pavement causing Skadi to jump from her spot. She smiled sheepishly when she realized it was just Ego before shutting the book, but not before making sure to keep a finger in between the pages to mark her spot.

            “I’m sorry to startle you.” Ego smiled, kindly at her. Ego motioned to her spot on the bench,   “May I join you?”

            Skadi tried swallowing the food that was in her mouth, not wanting to talk with her mouth full. Gulping the last piece down, she nodded her head, “Of course.”

            Ego smiled back in thanks as she pushed over to make room for him to sit next to her on the bench. As he sat down he took in her appearance. Her face seemed worried almost, scared even. He moved his eyes to look down at the book, noting how she made a big dent into it. He tried hiding his smirk by letting out a content sigh.

            Skadi nervously turned to look out in front of her, eyeing the scenery and trying to ignore the pinching feeling in her chest. She blinked a couple of times, opening her mouth to speak but closed it. She had so many questions running through her mind but couldn’t find the words to properly convey what she was thinking. She had finally got what she wanted and she wasn’t satisfied in the slightest.

            “Why?” She managed to squeak out.

            Ego raised an eyebrow at her, unsure as to what she was asking him. He slouched his posture, trying to reflex his person in an attempt to make her feel more at ease. He could sense the tension radiating off of her.

            “I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you’re asking?”  He asked gently, with a brightness to his tone.

            “Why,” Skadi sighed, trying to find her voice. “Why did you leave this in my room?” 

            “I thought you might like it. I knew you wanted to know about where you came from. I’m sorry if I assumed or imposed, it was not my intention.” Ego apologized, placing a hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him.

            Her eyes searched his for a moment, trying to get any sign that his intentions where hostile or in any way harmful to her and her friends. His eyes seemed sincere and truthful but Skadi was still on edge. She had a bad taste in her mouth and it wasn’t from the food; she was still trying to process everything she just read. This had to be a set up, it couldn’t be real.

            “Is it true?” She muttered, frowning down at the cover of the book.

            “The book?” Ego questioned, softly taking the book from her grasp, but still making sure to save her spot. “Every word; I got it straight from Asgard, you can’t get this anywhere else. My friend that I was telling you about, she was the one who gave it to me.”

            “In the book, it says that Asgard is protected by an all seeing watcher; he protects and sees all.” Skadi squinted her eyes at him, unsettled. “They don’t let just anyone go to Asgard, how did you get there? Why did they let you?”

            “Well I’m not trying to boost but I am a God in my own right and there are ways around getting there besides using their _rainbow_ bridge; which by the way isn’t even really a rainbow.” Ego tried to joke towards the end, nudging her side. His humor fell on deaf ears as she didn’t budge. Ego sighed, “I was there on business, I can’t really talk about it but that’s why.”

            Skadi bit her lip, watching as he opened to the page she had just been on. His eyes glanced over the words, catching up to where she was. When he was done he handed it back to her, frowning.

            “I know your friend wants you to not trust me but please listen to me when I tell you I want what’s best for my son and as I said back on Berhert, you’re important to him and I want to be close to my son and that means I want us to be close to each other as well” Ego stood up, stretching out his muscles.

            Skadi stared down at the open book again, rereading the same sentence she had been rereading for at least fifteen minutes straight. She blinked back the tears that were building up in her eyes, failing to do so and instead using her arms to wipe them from her face. The hairs on her arms rose as she nodded at Ego.

            “What happened to the girl?” She asked, looking at him hoping he knew.

             “No one knows, she just went missing.” Frowning, he moved to stand in front of her.  “I arrived to Asgard a couple of years after her disappearance. Her family was devastated, no one had a clue where she went. Her brothers had went off searching for her and had just returned empty handed, her father was furious because they couldn’t find a trace of her. I did see paintings of her, though, during my time there and her mother made her craftsman make this beautiful statue of her; when I saw you I couldn’t help but think-,”

            “I can’t be her!” Skadi exclaimed, standing up and shoving the book into his chest. “I don’t remember any of it! I just remember Hala, and then Yondu and then-,”

            “Skadi, allow me to help you. I can help you remember.” It was Ego’s turn to cut her off, placing the book on the bench before grasping her shoulders.

            “How?” She asked, realizing that she had still been crying.

            “As I’ve said, I’m a God and have my ways,” Ego smiled, giving her a soft squeeze before moving his hands to rest on her temples. “Now let me help you remember.”


	20. And Talk About Their Homes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I'm back with a quick update! I'm so inspired to get this going and being able to write out Vol. 3. I've been planning it out and can't wait to finally start writing it.

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            Peter had been walking down the hallway back to his room when he saw Gamora, leaning against the doorframe of his bedroom. He’d just enjoyed the most amazing breakfast he’d had in a long time, curtesy of Mantis; who knew the bug-lady would’ve been a decent cook. He smiled at his friend, greeting her with a smile.

            “Where’ve you been? Me and Drax missed you at breakfast.” Peter joked, opening his door once he reached it, letting her in first. “What’s up? Aren’t you hungry?”

            “No, I am not hungry. I need to speak with you, where’s Skadi?” Gamora hurried, pulling out her communicator. She had her usual look plastered on her face showing that she was all business and not interested in Peter’s small talk. She made her way into the room, looking around to see if she could spot the blonde, as if she hadn’t spent the last thirty minutes knocking at the door with no answer.

            Peter rolled his eyes at her. Not this again, he thought to himself shrugging his jacket off. “Mantis said she’s spending time with my dad.”

            Gamora gave him a stern and questioning look, unsure if that was a good idea. She bit the inside of her lip, trying to stop herself from scowling at him. “And you’re okay with that?”

            “Why wouldn’t I be?” Peter sighed, sitting down on the chair near the bookcase, cutting her off, deciding he didn’t want her to answer that question. “Please, if you’re going to start nagging me again, please save it. He wants to spend time with her to get to know her; if I’m going to have any relationship with my father then he has every right to get to know my girlfriend.”

            “Fine, whatever.” Gamora shook her head, raising her communicator up for him to see. This was more important than to squabble about Ego. “I’ve been trying to reach Rocket all morning to make sure they’re okay and to check on the progress of the ship but I can’t get through.”

            “Oh,” Peter deflated, now concerned as he stood up. “Did you try every frequency? Maybe he hasn’t gotten all the transmission channels patched up yet.” He offered, walking across the room to where his knapsack sat on the floor. Pulling out his own communicator, Peter began pressing buttons trying to get through to Rocket.

            “Yes, I have and this is Rocket we’re talking about the ship is probably half done by now. You know how he gets. I’m worried my sister did something.” Gamora sighed, throwing her communicator onto the bed in frustration.

            “They have Dara who would easily kick Nebula’s ass if she tried anything.” Peter tried to reason, as he messed around with different nobs, only to be met with static.

            “Do you really trust Dara after everything?” Gamora slightly chuckled with a shake of her head. “She doesn’t have a good track record of doing the right thing. I’m just worried; it’s something about this place that doesn’t feel right.”

            Peter nodded, until he realized what she said. He put down the device and crossed his big arms against his chest with a frustrated frown, “You didn’t have to come here you know. You could’ve stay with Nebula and made sure Dara behaves.”

            “I know but I don’t trust you here alone.” Gamora stressed, not caring it sounded. Seeing him already begin to roll his eyes at her, she let out an irritated groan. “That _bug-lady_ , Mantis, she’s afraid of something. Skadi and I caught her almost telling Drax something and then when we showed up she got all quiet and afraid. It’s not just me, even Skadi thought she was hiding something.”

            “Why are you so hell-bent on taking this away from me?” Quill said, not caring about anything she had to say. If Mantis was so concerning, Skadi would’ve told him about it last night, right? Skadi was just as annoyed with Gamora as he was. “And now you’re trying to drag Skadi into this? What are you trying to do? Get her to side with you, so you can get her to convince me to leave?”

            “I’m not trying-,”

            “He’s my father. We’re blood; I’m not leaving him.” Peter cut her off.

            “You have blood on earth, don’t you?” Gamora almost spat, irritated that Peter would even insinuate that she’d be sneaking and turn Skadi against him for her own gain. “You never wanted to return there. Why are you so persistent that I’m wrong about this place?”

            “Again, you didn’t have to come here with us! And Earth? Don’t bring that up! You still have people on your planet and you’ve never wanted to go back there either!”  Peter shouted, angrily pointing a finger at her not caring that she could put him on his ass in a blink of an eye if he pushed the right buttons. “You’re just jealous that me and Skadi finally have a chance of being a family and you can’t just let us have that?!”

            Gamora took a step back, slighted. That’s not what she wanted at all. She wanted them to be happy, she wanted them to be a family she just thought that she and the others were a part of it. She knew none of them were perfect but it was the first time in a very long time any of them felt like they belonged and for Peter to just be okay with tossing them all aside, Gamora had to keep her composer and try not to let him see how deeply his words hurt her.

            “I thought we were your family.” Was all she said before leaving the room without giving him a chance to apologize or say anything else.

            Gamora quickly left the castle, ignoring Drax’s questioning look; she just wanted to get off this planet. She knew it was a mistake to come here and now they were stuck here for Gods know how long. She felt as if she could cry when she realized she left her communicator with Peter and couldn’t even try to get in touch with Rocket again. She wanted to punch Peter right in his idiotic face for making her feel this way.

            “Dammit” She cursed, softly kicking the ground beneath her.

            She found herself walking further and further away from Ego’s castle, wanting to get as much distant from herself and it as she could. Her feet carried her quickly but yet still so sluggishly until she decided to just take off in a run. It wasn’t until the sound of sobbing came to reach her ears did she slow back down again, the castle now far off behind her. She paused, wiping her own cheeks, realizing that she’d allowed a few tears fall from her eyes. Reaching for her sword, not sure if this was a trick or not, Gamora scanned the horizon trying to locate the source of the sound. At first Gamora couldn’t make out the form sitting alone in the fields ahead, their legs pulled up to their chest with their head buried in their arms. It wasn’t until Gamora got close enough did she recognize the blonde hair cascading down their back; it was Skadi.

            The green assassin rushed to Skadi’s side, kneeling down and placing a hand carefully on her back, not wanting to startle the Asgardian or hurt her. Gamora shushed her, like her own mother did when she was a child and upset over something. Picking up her head with her green hand gently, Gamora looked over Skadi’s face, checking her over for injuries but only saw her upset face and red eyes. Gamora pulled her into a hug on instinct, wanting to know what happened.

            “Did he hurt you?” She asked, jumping to the point.

            Skadi didn’t reply, only shaking her head no, but let out another sob. Gamora frowned, confused as to what got the girl so upset then. She rubbed circles on her back once again trying to calm her down. Skadi was nearly shaking, hyperventilating even.

            “Then what happened?” Gamora asked, more softly this time. “You need to tell me so I can help you.”

            “He-I-, I didn’t mean to, Ga-mor-ra, I really didn-n-‘t.” Skadi stammered, breathing too heavy to be able to talk properly. She couldn’t find the proper words to explain how she was feeling, all the thoughts, _memories_ , racing through her head all at once. She had a splitting headache and her left arm burned, the marking of Vegvisir that had been tattooed there was now gone.

            Gamora stared at her confused, not knowing what words she was trying to make with the sounds coming out of her mouth.. She told her to take a deep breath, guiding her to breathe in and then out a few times until Skadi was breathing somewhat normally. It only took seconds after before Gamora could see the girl ready to break down into more tears and gave her a look, telling her to calm down. Skadi gulped, moving to sit away from Gamora so she could wipe her face and collect herself.

            “Now tell me what happened,” Gamora pressed, knowing that whatever happened needed to be dealt with and regardless of her fight with Peter, if Ego did anything to Skadi, Peter had to know.

            “You’re not going to believe me.” Skadi somewhat laughed, still trying to believe it herself.

            “Try me.” Gamora smirked at her, getting comfy.

            “Ego, he had, um, this book that he put in me and Peter’s room.” Skadi started, looking down at her hands and began playing with her fingers in anxiety. “It was a history book about Asgard and so I was curious and just started reading it. Ego found me reading it and I asked him if what was in the book was real or if it was just like a story or something but it was all fact. He said he could help me remember my past with his powers; and I let him.”

            “Okay.” Gamora nodded, urging her to continue when she saw her pause to look at her for approval. Gamora was slightly mad that Skadi would agree to such a thing without consulting her or at least Peter before going ahead with it. But she sensed Skadi beginning to get timid and softened her tone and face.

            “I’m not mad at you, I won’t judge or not believe you if that’s what you’re afraid of, I know you and you don’t lie. Now tell me,” Gamora encouraged, placing her hand on Skadi’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

            “I wouldn’t believe him if I didn’t see that book; I mean it could still all be some big trick but I don’t know, I’ve always had dreams about things and now that it’s all coming back to me I can’t help but believe what Ego did actually showed me the truth.” Skadi began, shifting in her spot.

             She wanted Gamora to know that she was indeed being cautious but there were too many things pointing to it being true. From besides her she pulled out the book, flipping through the pages until she found the one she was looking for. She handed the book to Gamora, pointing her finger to a drawing of a young girl. Gamora eyed the drawing; there was no color, for the book seemed to be written and drawn all in black ink. The name that was written as the title of the drawing was what really caught her eye. She snapped her eyes up to stare at Skadi with wide eyes.

            “Skadi, daughter of Frigga and Odin, goddess of winter.” Skadi read aloud, staring forward as she was unable to believe the words coming out of her mouth still.

            “But that means,” Gamora paused, trying to understand exactly what this meant. She knew who Frigga and Odin was, Thanos made sure she knew as many leaders names as possible; especially the Allfather’s and his own involvement with the Infinity Stones. Gamora turned back to look at the blonde, unsure on how to feel about this; she too had so many questions. “How did you end up with the Kree?”

            “I’m not completely sure about that yet. I remember leaving Asgard but I’m not sure how I got to Hala.” Skadi shook her head, looking at her feet bitterly all of a sudden. “I-, I was so stupid. I was just a stupid, spoiled, little girl.”

            “Well, I mean you were a princess.”

            Skadi looked at Gamora, surprised she made a joke at a time like this. Usually Gamora was so serious in situations like this and her comment threw her off guard. Skadi couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her mouth, but didn’t mind once Gamora joined in. The moment only lasted for a few seconds but it was needed and appreciated on both sides.

            “I was coming of age to get married.” Skadi spoke again after a few moments of silence. “My father wanted to marry me off to some Spartax prince to form an alliance and I didn’t want to. It would’ve been the first of its kind; Asgardians don’t marry outside of our realms. _It was beneath me._ ” Skadi sneered at her old self, the memories of her father telling her she’d be sent off to a different planet for an alliance that Asgard didn’t even need, she was furious.

            “My older brother, Loki, he and I were really close. He taught me everything I know, _or well knew,_ about magic, I haven’t used it in forever I doubt I’d be able to again.” She continued, remembering the boy she’d always dreamt about, he was a teenager than when she was just a child; he’d have to be years older than her now.

            She remembered all the nights where she’d sneak into his chambers when she was supposed to be asleep and he’d teach her whatever it was that their mother had taught him during his magic lessons that day. Her mother wasn’t against her learning, but her father told her she was too young and she had to wait. Skadi had always been and still was an impatient person and back than she had to always get her way. Gamora was right, she was a princess and if she wanted something she had to get it.

            “We understood each other, Loki and I. He was my best friend and he too didn’t want to see me off to some faraway place. He promised to help me get out of it. He was always mischievous and we came up with a plan. He was a master with magic, I always thought he was just a great as my mother. He searched and searched until he found a spell to make it so my father or anyone besides him wouldn’t be able to track me down.” Skadi continued, looking to see if she was boring Gamora yet.

            Gamora was listening intently though, waiting for her to continue and nodded to show that she was still listening. Skadi frowned, feeling weird being able to remember everything after all these years of living in a constant fog and wanting to remember. Now that she finally did she couldn’t help but be furious with herself for being so stupid and letting herself get into this situation. She felt so conflicted; if she hadn’t chose the path she did, if she didn’t make the same mistakes, she’d never be here. If she hadn’t rebelled against her father’s wishes she would be on Spartax, a Queen of a planet, and probably a mother of her own prince or princess. She’d never have to have this conversation with Gamora, she’d never become a Guardian and she would’ve never met Peter.

            She shook her head, shaking all the ‘what if’s’ out of her mind for now, continuing on with a heavy sigh,             

            “Loki took me to some far off planet where I would be safe until he’d be able to join me one day. We didn’t want to both disappear at the same time; it would’ve absolutely destroyed our mother even though I knew deep down that she’d eventually understand.  I remember him leaving me with someone who would watch me until then, an Asgardian named Amora. She was also one of my mother’s students and I remember always looking up to her because she was so beautiful. I don’t remember him ever coming back for me or anything after that though. I only remember being with her for a while before just blackness and then waking up in that Kree cell without knowing who I was or where I came from, how I got there; it’s just all blank.”

            Skadi finished wondering what ever happened to her brother. Why did he never come back for her? Could he not find her? She was right where he left her; well until she somehow ended up on Hala. Her time with Amora, the enchantress, seemed so short to her. She couldn’t remember how long she had been there. She only remember a few moments, like, Amora continuing her magic lessons, practicing her powers until she had nearly perfected them and them going out to the market place in the village nearby. Skadi couldn’t make any sense of it; why did she have a blank space of time between Loki helping her run away to her waking up as a Kree slave.

            Gamora watched as the girl had thoughts race through her head. Gamora herself was trying to wrap her head around it. She vaguely remembered Thanos teaching her of the three royal Asgardian children growing up. She remembered the name Loki though, remembering him from when Thanos considered making him one of his children but Loki ultimately failed at getting Thanos what he wanted.

            She felt for the girl; their ways towards the how were different, but Gamora knew what it was like to lose your family and be thrown into a place that no child wanted to grow up in. And everything about Skadi began to make sense about Skadi now. The way her powers would randomly appear to be controlled and more powerful than usual; it her teachings were coming back to her in some sort of way. Skadi was a lot more powerful than any of them ever thought, that’s probably why she always got so subconsciously annoyed when everyone doubted her in a fight; she was trained to be a warrior.

            Gamora’s thoughts were short lived and interrupted before she could the chance to speak on them, unable to verbally show her support as she heard the sound of a ship flying in the sky. Perking up, she stood, hoping to see the Milano and her worries about getting in touch with Rocket being short lived. Skadi was too busy glaring down at the ground to notice Gamora taking a step forward, trying to get a better look at the ship. The green woman watched as the M-ship flew closer and closer, before realizing that it wasn’t stopping; whoever was flying it was intending on crashing right into them. She gapped, opening her mouth to warn Skadi.

            “Run.”


	21. Leads You Here Despite Your Destination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I'll be posting two chapters in a row this time. And like always let me know what you think in the comments :)

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** SIX WEEKS AGO **

            Peter felt as if everything had gone off in slow motion; from them finally entering the docking bay, to seeing his girlfriend being a total badass, to then seeing her at this very moment crashing down towards the ground. His mind wasn’t processing it, seeing her be completely knocked out by the blast that hit her, unable to fly herself safely to the ground. He knew he had to catch her but he couldn’t move fast enough he felt. From the height she was at he knew the impact wouldn’t be enough to kill her, but he knew he couldn’t let her hit the ground.

            He activated his rocket boots, racing to reach her, ignoring the fights going on around him and the cargo ship blasting off and out of their reach. He cursed as he got so close to her, wishing for the others to help him somehow. Skadi was now mere inches away from him as he reached out to grab for her, snatching the back of her jacket, swearing out loud when he heard the fabric sound as if it was going to rip. He pulled his arm up, jerking her upwards with it, using his other arm to lock a good grip around her waist.           

            Star-lord slowly lowered them to the ground, deactivating his mask to get a good look at her. He let his hand touch her check, quickly ripping it away at how cold she was. His eyes bore into her face, concerned as he gently laid her down in front of him. As her back touched the floor, Skadi let out a shuttered, slowly waking from the pain. Peter began to panic, apologizing repeatedly. He let his hand gently brush her hair out of her face, feeling her forehead begin to heat up suddenly.

            “Peter!” Gamora called out, reaching them. She looked down at Skadi and Peter’s extremely worried face, sinking down to her knees to help. Skadi’s eyes were shut tight but she was clearly awake now but in pain; a lot of pain. Gamora hushed Peter as he continued to fuss over her nervously. They had defeated and subdued the rest of the Kree and were awaiting Nova’s arrival.  Rocket had just radioed them, letting them know they were arriving; help was coming.

            “Don’t panic. It’ll be okay, Nova is here.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention. “Help me get her on her stomach, we have to see how bad the wound is.” Gamora ordered, starting to pull the girl towards her.

            Peter nodded, shaking out of it and helping Gamora flip her over. In the process he slide her leather jacket off of her, Peter knowing how mad Skadi will be later when she’d see the big scorch mark on the back. Peter hissed once she was on her stomach with her jacket piled up next to him. The blast nearly burnt straight through the girl’s shirt.

            Gamora had already been slowly lifting the girl’s shirt up, wanting to get a better look. Peter hesitated, unsure if they should wait until they were on their ship or a Nova ship but he trusted Gamora.  The mark from where she was hit could’ve been worse, Gamora thought. The skin was clearly burnt and it would certainly scar but Skadi would recover.

            This was the first time any of them had really gotten hurt on a mission since they became a team and she couldn’t help but feel like it was her fault; she should’ve paid better attention to them and prevented them from getting away from her. Gamora bit her lip as she heard Dara approaching them, she tried to stop herself from looking up at the Badoon, still angry that she agreed to go off with Skadi instead of stopping her.

            “Damn, that’s looking pretty gross.” Dara chuckled, stopping to stand behind Gamora with her arms crossed against her chest.

            Gamora gritted her teeth, trying to let Dara’s pestering go in one ear and out the other, instead she asked when the Nova Core were going to get here, they needed to get Skadi medical attention.

            “They should be here any minute now Rocket said.” Dara replied, crouching down to get a better look at Skadi’s back. She laughed and shook her head before standing back up.

            Gamora nodded, trying to roll Skadi back over to try and get her to stand. Together, Peter and the assassin managed to get the girl on her feet, her eyes now opened and glaring at the ground. She winced as her skin stretched and brushed against her shirt. Peter let her lean her body against him, curling her into his side and making sure not to touch her upper back, keeping his hand rested on her hip.

            “That’s what you get for ditching me.” Dara huffed, moving to stand closer to them. “I was gonna help you get your stupid revenge on these people but you want in guns blazing and without backup. When are you going to learn that you’re not as strong as Gamora and I?”

            “Dara enough,” Gamora hissed, warning the Badoon only once to not start.

            “What? She needs to hear it. She thought she could handle this and look at what happened?” Dara gapped, not seeing where she was wrong. “She’s got herself hurt and the ship she wanted to stop so badly got away.”

            Gamora and Peter bit their tongues knowing that it wasn’t worth going at it with Dara when she acted this way. If you didn’t encage her she would grow bored and move on. The pair just gave each other a look, waiting as they could hear Nova coming in from the docking bay doors. They let Dara continue to make an idiot out of herself as they saw the officers rushing to get to the Kree soldiers scattered around the room, Dey coming towards them with a few others trailing behind.

            “Back home, if I did something that stupid and got hurt because of it, they’d leave me there to suffer and figure it out on my own.” Dara continued.

            “Well yeah, your people are savages.” Skadi muttered out, Peter nearly choking at her words as Gamora hoped Dara didn’t hear her.

            “What was that?” Dara narrowed her eyes at her.

            “Dara, let it go.” Gamora warned, pushing to stand in front of Skadi and Peter. “She didn’t mean it.”

            Dara raised an eyebrow before using her powers to slide Gamora out of her way, coming face to face with the Asgardian. She looked her up and down, smirking. “Look who has a mouth on her. Finally coming out of your shell, huh?”

            Dara pushed Skadi a step back, not caring as the girl winced out. Peter shouted at Dara to cut the shit, putting his hand in front them to prevent her from getting closer. She just rolled her eyes, using her powers to push him to out of the way as well, keeping Gamora and Peter still where they stood. Skadi struggled to stand up alone, instantly regretting every choice she made that day.

            “Now, let me tell you something princess,” Dara moved her a step back again, making the girl trip on her own feet. Dara, using her powers again helped the girl to stand straight, but forcibly jerking her upwards, causing shooting pain to jet through her back. “Here, let me help you stand because you seem not quite ready to stand up on your own yet.”

            “Dara!” Gamora and Peter warned, nervously as Dey now stood by them, cautiously waiting to see if he would have to have his troops intervene, not trusting the Badoon at all, regardless if she helped saved Xandar or not. Dara turned to face them all, unimpressed but the Corpsmen. Rolling her eyes again, she let go of her hold on Skadi, letting the girl collapse to the ground.

            “Oh please I wasn’t going to do anything besides teach her to only talk if she can back up what she says.” Dara shrugged, walking away from the group. “I’ll meet you all back on Milano.”

            Peter quickly reached Skadi, who was clearly embarrassed and in pain. He helped her stand again before rushing off to get medical attention with Dey. Gamora watched after them, looking back at Dara retreating form in disappointment. Both girls were in the wrong but Dara had been doing so much better and should’ve known better. Shaking her head, Gamora decided to let Dara be and followed after the others.


	22. Running in the Shadows

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                Skadi had gasped, trying to catch her breath as her and Gamora ran through the dusty fields trying to flee the ship that had been firing down at them. Shots exploded around them as they narrowly missed them. The dust from the impact filled their lungs and made it hard for them to see. Skadi’s legs felt as if they were on fire, not being as physically prepared for this as Gamora was, still trying to recover from her near mental breakdown only moments ago. She lagged a few feet away from the green beauty, staggering to keep up.

                Eventually, with a huff, Skadi lifted her feet off of the ground taking to the skies. She flew up high, clenching her fists in the process. She came eye to eye with the oncoming ship, her glowing eyes widening as she noticed Nebula and Dara in the pilot seats. Letting out an angry yell, she rain down her own barrage of snow and ice shards their way. The ship jerked to the side, avoiding some of the storm coming their way but their right wing was nearly clipped. Nebula flew the ship over the two Guardians to try and recover from the hit, yelling out in frustration that the stupid blonde managed to give them a blow like that.

                Gamora stopped running when the cost was clear, Skadi slowing descending to hover next to her. The two girls shared a concerning look as Gamora reached for her communicator to signal help but remembered she didn’t have it on her anymore. She motioned for Skadi to give her hers but Skadi shrugged sheepishly.

                “I forgot to bring it.” She frowned. “It’s Nebula; I saw her piloting the ship and Dara was with her.” Skadi nearly spat, feeling betrayed but not surprised.

                Gamora clenched her jaw, narrowing her eyes as the ship began to fly towards them once more. “Go get help, I’ll deal with them.”

                “What? And leave you alone with them? Gamora I get you’re the best fighter here but I can’t leave you.” Skadi shouted, refusing to leave her alone.

                “I will be fine, now go!” Gamora shouted as Nebula began firing down at them again.

                Gamora didn’t give Skadi another second to protest before taking off in a sprint towards the ship. It didn’t take long for Nebula to turn the ship around to follow after her sister. Gamora kept running, keeping up a fast pace and avoiding the lasers being shot down at her. Her breath was steady and she made sure to keep her head leveled; there was no point in panicking.

                In the horizon, it appeared that Gamora was coming to the end of a cliff, not realizing that they had been near the canyons they all saw during their arrival. She prepped herself for the fall, knowing it would hurt but there was no way she could stop now. As she kicked her feet off the edge once she reached it, she prepared her body to hit the ground. As the ground became closer though Gamora felt her body be pulled up, grunting at the sudden whiplash. Looking down at the arms wrapped around her waist, Gamora could feel a vain pop in her forehead in frustration.

                “I told you to go get help!” She shouted, as Skadi lowered them gently to the ground.

                “I’m helping you now aren’t I?” Skadi replied, crossing her arms against her chest and popping her hip out.

                Gamora perked an eyebrow up, noting how her demeanor seemed to have changed all of sudden. The girl appeared to carry herself with a newfound confidence. Before Gamora could comment, Nebula’s ship rounded back at them.

                “Let’s go.” Gamora spoke, taking off to take shelter in a nearby cavern that she saw nearby.

                The two girl’s race inside, thinking they’d be safe inside but soon found that nothing would stop the enraged second daughter of Thanos. Gamora glanced behind her shoulder to see Nebula continuing to fly towards them. The two girls gasped, taking off further into the cave when they realized that Nebula didn’t care if the ship was too big to fit into the cavern and forced it inside.

                The sound of metal crunching and being pulled apart echoed against the walls, alongside with the sound of mini-explosions being set off from the impact. The cave shook as walls collapsed and the ground cracked, splitting and falling into itself. Gamora and Skadi were forced to separate when the ground from beneath Skadi gave way, causing her to go tumbling to the darkness below, unable to fly back out of it due to rubble raining down from the hole.

                She cried out as she fell, rolling to a sudden stop once she hit the bottom. Wincing, she pushed herself up with the palm of her hands slowly. The area was only light by the fires from above, shining down from the hole she fell down from. She cursed at herself for running instead of flying, she would had never fell through if she’d been smarter; she knew better and she’d let herself become so weak and stupid. The Asgardian let a hand hold onto her head as she fought between her old self and new self she now found herself in.

                She felt nauseous still processing all that Ego had shown her. Using her legs she pushed herself up to sit on her knees. She could hear Gamora’s shouts from above along with the sounds of guns going off. She was about to blast off and go help but a sudden light from in front of her distracted her. Squinting her eyes, she looked forward, unsure what she was looking at. She still held onto her head, noting that she had a small gash above her left eyebrow as she stood up tall. The light shone down from a crack in the ceiling above illuminating what appeared to be a pile of rocks but Skadi felt as if something was wrong as she walked closer to it. The pit in her stomach flipped when she noticed it was a large pile of skulls and bones.

                The blonde wanted to gag, not understanding why this would be here. She reached out towards it wanting to not believe her eyes but before she could make a movement she was thrown to the side roughly smacking against one of the walls of the cave. She smashed against the ground, spitting out blood, wincing as her back felt like it’d been shattered. When the pain finally began to dull she lifted her head to see Dara standing below the hole she’d fallen through earlier.

                With a grunt, Skadi moved to stand up, only to be grabbed by invisible hands and tossed across the room again. This time Dara gave Skadi no time to recuperate this time, picking her up and slamming her up into the ceiling and down against the ground a couple of times. When she could see the blood coming out of various wounds and Skadi heaving in pain, Dara paused, knowing the girl was down for the count. She made her way over to her, a clouting smirk resting on her face.

                “Surprised to see me?” She asked, knowing the girl would be too weak to speak. “Look kid, I didn’t really want to do this. I just want to go home and Nebula promised me a ride home if I helped her kill her sister by keeping you guys out of the way. And I mean I’ve been wanting to beat the shit out of you for a while now so I guess I can’t really say I don’t really _want_ to do this.”

                Dara sighed, thinking about her next move, she was pretty sure Skadi was done for. The girl laid on the floor barely moving; she was trying to but could only manage to life her head up and weakly plop herself up on her elbows. She opened her mouth and said something under her breath.

                “What was that? Speak up, I can’t hear you.” Dara laughed, putting her hand to her ear teasingly.

                Skadi huffed, ignoring the pain in her ribs as she pushed herself up to sit. She used her hands to hold herself up, propping them up behind her and leaned back. She coughed, spitting out more blood, clearing her throat. “I said, you’re stupid; how do you think Nebula’s going to bring you home now that she’s crashed her ship.”

                Dara’s eyes widened, now only thinking about that fact. She’d been so in the moment that she didn’t realize that they were now shipless. She’d have to steal Ego’s now. She angrily stared the girl down, cracking her neck and fingers, “Well then this trip will have to be worth it then won’t it?”

                Dara outreached her hand towards Skadi, ready to fling her around some more before finishing the job. She halted though, feeling her finger tips grow cold. Zoning in on them she could see them begin to be glazed with ice, crackling up over her fingertips and trailing up her hand and continuing. She jumped back, yelping at the frostbite, before staring at Skadi in burning anger.

                Skadi was staring at her, eyes glowing and wearing a smirk on her face. She slowly stood from the ground, hands clenched, ignoring her screaming muscles. A white aura surrounded her, a cold wind circling around her, as her body grew lighter, almost ice like. Skadi hadn’t felt like this in years and it felt good; completely losing herself, she eyed down Dara as Dara once did her.

                “Oh it’ll be worth it.”

                Skadi launched herself at the Badoon at such a speed Dara didn’t know she had. She didn’t have time to prepare herself at all, letting the Asgardian punch her square in the face. She heard her nose crack and could feel the blood beginning to pour out. The Badoon felt the air leave her lungs, not only from the impact but from the pure shock. Skadi was never one to go for physical combat, always choosing to stay from afar so Dara didn’t expect to take a punch to the face in a fight with her.

                Dara couldn’t even finish processing it before Skadi dealt another blow, an upper cut, causing Dara to stumble back. Skadi backed off, waving her arms in front of her, summoning ice to appear from her hands. She shot the shards out at Dara, a few of them imbedding themselves into her furry skin before Dara could orientate herself and react. She used her own powers to move the shards out of the way, making them implant into the ceiling above her.

                Dara latched onto some of the fallen rocks, tucking them at her with not a care of how big or small they were. Skadi managed to freeze some of them turning them into small ice particles but couldn’t stop all of them. A larger piece of rock smashed into her, causing her to yell out in pain and frustration as she was forced to the ground.

                Skadi didn’t waste a moment to fly back up as high as she could, raining a snow storm down at Dara. The Badoon rolled out of it, jumping up into the air and tackling Skadi down to the ground in a heap of limbs. The girls ignored their powers, letting all the anger, hatred and betrayal leave them through punches, clawing and hair pulling. Dara felt disgusted that she allowed this stupid girl to make her result to fighting this way but it felt good as she clasped her fingers through her hair and slammed her face onto the hard cave floor.

                Skadi ignored all the pain, knowing that this was her moment to get back at Dara for all the insults, all the times she’d pretend to be her friend only to turn on her in the heat of the moment. She tried so hard to get Dara to lighten up and for them to be friends but she couldn’t bother trying anymore. She pushed her foot out, kicking Dara right in the gut, causing Dara to loosen the grip on her hair. She used this moment to flip them over, putting herself on top and delivered a few punches to Dara’s face, tears leaking out of her own eyes from the frustration.

                Dara reached up, locking her hands around her neck, causing Skadi’s blows to cease. Skadi focused herself, calming her nerves as she could feel the air leave her lungs. She refused to lose this fight. She wouldn’t go out this way. She thought back to all her training, not from Dara or Gamora but from back during her time back home, on Asgard.

                As much as Skadi looked up to Loki, she had also looked up to their eldest brother, Thor. She wanted to be a master sorcerous, like Loki, just as much as being a fierce warrior, like Thor. It was the one thing her father didn’t think she was too young for, wanting her to be able to defend herself. He wanted to make sure she could fight before wasting away in a library reading books on magic. Skadi had just been taught the basics but had been trained by the best warriors in all of Asgard; she didn’t just have to rely on her magic, she could take down a Badoon without them.

                She reached her hands up to wrap a hand around each of Dara’s wrists, using all her Asgardian strength to pull her hands off of her neck. She grunted, slowly feeling Dara’s grip being forced to loosen. Dara watched as Skadi pulled her grip off in amazed horror. Where was all this power coming from? She could see Skadi’s neck muscles tightening, along with her shoulders as she showed this sudden strength. Dara tried her hardest to keep a hold of her but was failing miserably, unable to prevent the moment Skadi freed herself from her grasp, pulling one of her fists back. The last thing Dara saw before blacking out was Skadi’s fist coming pummeling down and smacking against her check.

                Skadi took a deep breath, willing the dense air to find its way back into her lungs. Taking a step up, looking down at the knocked out woman beneath her, she couldn’t help but feel a hint of pride. She didn’t know she could’ve taken out the arrogant woman all this time and now here she was as if it took nothing out of her to do so. Skadi cracked her knuckles, the pain feeling good for a split second before willing herself to step towards the pile of skull and bone she saw before. She could still hear Gamora and Nebula from above, fighting, not physically but verbally.

                She ignored them though, only paying attention to what she saw in front of her. It took her a few moments to get it together, looking back at Dara’s body and back up to where Gamora and Nebula’s voices echoed off the walls. Jumping into the air, she flew through the clearing in the ceiling, landing on the level above where the two sisters were. They were sat across from the other, panting, finishing their argument,

                “You just always wanted to win, while I just wanted a sister!” Nebula shouted, leaving Gamora speechless.

                Skadi awkwardly stood off, catching both girls’ eyes. Nebula stood up, huffing about how the Badoon failed her. Gamora shook her head, unsure of what to say, Nebula’s words still repeating in her head and the guilt building up in her stomach. Skadi cleared her throat, wanting to show Gamora what she had seen.

                “You need to see this.” She ushered her over, pretty sure that Nebula’s fight with her was over.

                Reluctantly, Gamora walked away from her sister, still keeping herself on edge, waiting to see if Nebula would strike again while her back was turned. Letting the blonde lead her to the edge of the cavern she peered down, gasping out in horror and confusion.

                “So this is when you get to say I told you so.” Skadi laughed, nervously.

                “What is this?” Gamora managed to croak out, knowing that they were in serious trouble.


	23. He Was An Honest Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i'm happy to announce that I've officially finished writing this story. All that's left is to now post them all :) Of course I'm going to wait to do that because I want to start writing Vol. 3 before this one ends so I can have some stuff to post without having to wait a while between this one and the next. But I'm super satisfied with this story and can't wait to keep writing it!

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Peter couldn’t help but feel guilty as he laid in bed, unable to fall asleep or do much of anything else besides just lay there thinking. Even as one of his mother’s favorite songs played off in the background dimly, he couldn’t seem to get Gamora off his mind. He should’ve gone after her, he should’ve apologized. He didn’t think he was too harsh on her until he really got to sit down and replay their conversation over in his head a couple of times.

                Like he said before, the Guardians were a team full of losers; they’ve all lost things in their lives and all they had was each other now. He shouldn’t have mentioned her home planet, he knew why she could never go back, and she was raised by the man who killed off half of her people. Just because Gamora mentioned Earth didn’t give him the right to push her like that. She was family and he shouldn’t had treated her that way.

                He made up his mind, jolting up from the bed, ready to go find her and apologize. As he reached to grab his boots he’d kicked off at the edge of the bed he heard footsteps at the door. Thinking it was Skadi, he perked up, happy to finally seeing her after her being gone all day long.  He frowned when he saw it was just Ego.

                “You all right son?” Ego chuckled, “You seem so disappointed to see me.”

                “No, no, I’m fine sorry. I just thought you were Skadi.”  Peter rubbed his beard, feeling bad. He looked up at Ego, his head titled slightly, now wondering where Skadi could be since Ego was here and she was supposed to have been with him all day. “Where is she by the way? Mantis told me you were spending time with her today.”

                “Oh I was, on our way back here we saw your green friend stomping around and Skadi wanted to see what was wrong.” Ego explained, sitting down on the bed next to him.

                He takes a moment to listen to the song playing, instantly remembering it from his time with Meredith on Earth. She’d played this song for him so many times that it’d occasionally get stuck in his head still to this day. He wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t miss Earth’s music; it was one of the very few things he missed about that planet. He lightly hummed along to the verse, catching his son’s eye.

                “You know-?” Peter stared at him in awe, not minding when his father cut him off.

                “Brandy? By Looking Glass?” Ego squinted at him, pretending as if only a fool wouldn’t know this song.  “It was your mom’s favorite. She always insisted it was the greatest song ever written.”

                “Yeah, she did. I remember; she’d play it every morning when she brought me to school.” Peter remembered, speaking fondly.

                Peter allowed his thoughts to focus on his mother, letting everything else go. The moment Ego had told him Skadi went off after Gamora he couldn’t help but stress about Gamora telling her what he said and Skadi being angry with him. He knew he was overthinking but he was afraid out of spite Gamora would somehow turn Skadi against him. He didn’t want a night full of fighting, he wanted another night like last night.

                “Peter, you and I, we’re the sailor in the song.” Ego took him back out of his thoughts, waiting for his son to look at him before continuing. He began to speak along with the lyrics of the song. “ _He came on a summer’s day, bringing gifts from far away_ , like the child I gave your mother, or the love you gave to Skadi. _Brandy, you’re a fine girl, what a good wife you would be. But my life, my love, my lady is the sea. The sea calls the sailor back. He loves the girl, but that’s not his place._ The sea calls upon him as history calls upon great men, and sometimes we are deprived the pleasures of mortals.”

                Peter scrunched up his nose, not really ever thinking to fully into the lyrics. As a kid, he’d always just thought the song was catchy and now whenever he’d listen to it, it’d just remind him of his mother. He didn’t fully understand the point his father was trying to make and felt a weird pang of caution creep up in the back of his mind. He nervously scratched at his beard, standing up once his boots were fully on and strapped up. He allowed himself to get back to his train of thought before Ego came into his room; he felt more of need to speak to Gamora now than before. She was right, something didn’t feel right after all.

                “Well you might not be mortal but I am,” Peter said, noting how quickly Ego stood up the moment he did.

                “Death will remain a stranger to both of us, as long as the light burns within this planet.” Ego smiled, following his son as he made his way out of the door. He knew Peter was feeling cautious around him all of a sudden; Ego knew that the green woman must’ve talked to him again.

                “I’m immortal?” Peter paused in the doorway, finding that unbelievable to him.

                “How else do you think you were able to hold onto that Infinity Stone?” Ego questioned, quirking an eyebrow at him. He took the lead, now walking past Peter and down the hall, knowing his son would now follow. Sure enough he was right, hearing Peter’s feet rushing to catch up with him.

                “I’m really immortal?” Peter’s voice was soft, asking for confirmation.

                “As long as the light exists, yes.” Ego smiled, stopping at the end of the hall.

                “But you said we’re like the sailor, in the song. You said we’re deprived the pleasures of mortals; what do you mean by that?” Peter questioned, unsure what that meant. He could only think of Skadi and his mother. His father lost her, but by his own choice and as far as Peter knew he would rather be mortal than give up being with Skadi. “I’m not staying here if Skadi or my friends can’t either.”

                Ego smiled sadly at him, continuing down the hall wanting to get to the main ballroom as soon as possible. Peter could feel his nerves grow, unsure if he should follow or if he should get the others and find a way off of this planet. They were stuck here but if they were all together Peter would feel a little better until they could either get Ego to bring them back to Rocket or get in touch with Rocket himself.

                Ego waited until he finally reached the ballroom, where he had shown them all the diagrams of his journeys when they first arrived. He turned to face his son, putting on his most comforting face, trying to ease Peter who was clearly on edge.

                “Your friends won’t be able to stay here forever Peter, there’s nothing here for them, but,” Ego explained before he exclaimed, pointing his index finger at Peter in an encouraging motion. “Today during my time with your girl, I found out some very interesting things about her.”

                Peter eyed him, unsure if he liked the sound of that. What could he have possibly found out, that would pertain to this? Peter didn’t want to admit it but Gamora was right on question leaving him alone with her. She was too open and too easy get to. Peter had so quickly forgot how quickly she warmed up to him on Berhert. He huffed, wishing that he knew better.

                “I’ve only scratched the surface when explaining to you of all the things I can do. I saw how desperate she was to remember who she was, to have some kind of celebrance of her past and I granted her just that.” Ego smiled, bringing him back to the center of the room.

                “You-, you did what?” Peter was speechless. He didn’t know that that was possible. He knew Skadi had been dying to figure out her past since he’d known her, the need to increasing after they met the Collector and then back on Xandar when they told her she had Asgardian blood. He’d partly wished he’d been there with her when Ego did this, just to be safe. He wanted to see her now, make sure she was okay.

                “You see, being a god is a tremendous responsibility Peter, you have to learn how to control your gifts and you’re friends being here would be nothing but a constant distraction. So you have to understand why I can’t allow them to stay much longer.” Ego frowned, but tried his best to look as if he felt bad about it, still trying to hide his true intentions a little while longer.

                “I’m sorry, I really am,” Peter shook his head after moments of taking in what his father said. He couldn’t process the thoughts going through his mind. He wanted to stay, to build a relationship with his father but he wouldn’t just so easily toss his new family aside that quickly. “I’m grateful to have finally met you and for you helping Skadi get her memories back, I really am but I won’t stay here if they can’t. I don’t care about the light, or these powers. I’ve never needed them before and I don’t need them now.”

                Ego frowned again, this time letting his disappointment truly show. He rubbed his beard, as if trying to think of his next move.  He knew what he was going to have to do and he didn’t want it to come to that. He had high hopes for this one, he showed feel promise. He was more gullibly than the others. He hadn’t asked as many questions as the others before him but they also didn’t have so many attachments to get rid of.

                “You know I was going to keep her alive for a while, once I knew for sure if my hunch was correct about her.” Ego began, stalking towards his son. “She is Asgardian, that much I know you know but she’s far more than that. She’s a true Goddess, a princess of Asgard, her father being one of the most powerful beings in the universe.”

                Peter gapped at him, feeling his heart began to pound as he continued to speak, he subconsciously reached for his blasters, hoping that the others were nearby and would hear him if he had to begin shooting. Ego took more steps towards him, pausing when he was only a few inches away.

                “It wasn’t too hard tricking the Allfather, he doesn’t leave his side of the universe that much so it was surprisingly easy to impersonate the King of Spartax, the real King owed me for my services from a previous business dealing so he lent me some of his personal guards and such. He never really cared for the Asgardians anyway, they’re all so full of themselves.

                “I had told you that all those years ago I had my own desire to find life, I didn’t tell you how or when I did find it but when I finally did, it was all so disappointing.” Ego snared, making his disgust fully show on his face. “That was when I came to the profound realization that my innate desire to seek out other life was not that so I could walk among that life; no I finally found meaning.”

                Ego raises his hands up, signaling for the dioramas to spring back to life. Peter glances over at them, watching as they transform into a map of the universe. The Terran stares at them, as they change to show Ego sharing pieces of his lifeform, glowing little cosmic plants, by burying them on different planets. He stares in horror, looking back to his father, unsure as to what the purpose of them where.

                “I call it the Expansion.” Ego smiled ear to ear, beyond ecstatic that his plan was finally happening. “It’s my true purpose and now it’s yours as well, and any grandchildren you give me.”

                Peter could feel the back hairs on his neck stand at his words, his eyes zoomed in onto his father’s face, “What?” He asked shakenly.

                “Well back to what I was saying earlier; a single Celestial doesn’t have enough power for such an enterprise that I wish to make, but two, and now possibly three, given I’d have to wait a few more years, well now, that might just do.”

                Peter’s eyes scanned the room, looking for a quick way out, wanting to find the others ASAP and get to Ego’s ship and leave this planet. His eyes looked from the main door, which he knew he wouldn’t get to in time with Ego watching him like a hawk. He gripped his blaster tighter, readying to pull it out of its holster in a second. He hesitated, seeing a shadow coming from behind a pillar. He eased his posture, not wanting to alert to Ego. He still kept his eyes looking forward trying to see who it was, hoping it was Gamora and she’d come in and help kick Ego’s ass. He looked back to Ego, pretending to still be listening.

                “Out of all my labors, the most beguiling was attempting to graft my DNA with that of another species. I’d tried mixing mine with every species, and just as I was about to give up, I discovered the Asgardians during my time working for the Spartax King. They were the only other beings I’ve come across that were God’s in their own right. I figured a pairing with one of them would work, so I began to hatch my plan. I didn’t want just any Asgardian, I wanted one from the highest bloodline I could get. Our DNA’s would surely mix and work. So I set my sights on your girl, the Goddess of Winter; she was a brat. I only got to meet her once, she barely paid attention and she was too concerned with herself but once I took her here she’d wouldn’t be able to escape me.”

                Peter clenched his jaw, feeling anger rise within him. He tried to hide it not wanting to see the satisfied look on his father’s face. He didn’t want to think about the fate Skadi would’ve had if Ego had gotten her. He still couldn’t believe that Skadi was a princess from a far off mythical fairy land that only reminded him of that show he watched as a kid, He-Man. He couldn’t see her wearing giant fancy dresses, or being called a princess, or let alone a goddess.

                He blinked back some tears he felt well up in his eyes, wishing he could go back to Berhert and tell Ego that he wouldn’t go with him. He didn’t expect things to take a turn in the direction that they did.

                “But I didn’t expect her to run away before I could go pick her up, never to be heard from again. It wasn’t until I heard about the whole Xandar thing, did I recognized her face and come to find out she’s on a team with a man from Earth named Peter Quill, now where does that last name sound familiar? I couldn’t believe my luck.” Ego questioned, turning his head to look back to where Peter had been looking at.

                Peter’s eyes widened, knowing that whoever was hiding was caught. He fully grasped his blasters ready to take aim on his father, only hesitating when Ego addressed whoever was hiding behind the pillar.  Ego’s voice reached the young Asgardian’s ears from her hiding spot, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand.

                “You can come out my dear, I know you’re there.”


	24. No Harbor Was His Home

* * *

 

Ego was quick to learn that his son was terrible at keeping things on the down low, granted Ego already knew that they weren’t alone. He could hear someone flying in, from one of the open windows from above, sneaking down to hide out in the shadows. He could sense the slight temperature drop come suddenly out of nowhere in the middle of his speech. Ego had felt the ship crashing off in the distance, hoping that the four girls would take care of themselves but he knew they were coming for him but he knew that they wouldn’t last long. 

                Skadi’s breath hitched in her throat, not knowing how she’d been caught so quickly. Her eyes widened not sure what to do; Gamora was already unsure when Skadi offered to go find Peter while they waited for Rocket and Yondu to finally reach them. After getting out of the cavern, the three girls, Gamora and Nebula carrying Dara’s still unconscious body raced back to the castle and found Drax and Mantis. Demanding to know what was going on, Mantis finally told them as Rocket finally was able to get in touch with them.

                “Don’t touch him.” Skadi spoke as she came out into the light.

                Peter took in her beat up appearance and wanted to do nothing more than reach out and hold her. He wanted to know who did that to her, was it Ego?

                “Skadi!” Peter shouted, not thinking before stepping forward to go to her.

                A spiky light was suddenly propelled towards him, coming from his father. Peter was thrown backwards, keeping him from getting close to her. Skadi yells for him, taking to the sky to get around Ego but only is thrown back down to the ground by a tendril of light, keeping her still in place on the floor. Quill see’s this, and moves to stand again, wanting to reach her but another tendril is now piercing through his chest, preventing him from moving.

                It didn’t necessarily hurt but he couldn’t say he was comfortable as he was unable to move his body and was dangled a few feet off the ground.   He cried out in frustration, wanting to know what Ego’s plan was from here on.

                “What’s the point of all of this?” He managed to choke out not expecting it to hurt to talk so much.

                “The point?” Ego exclaimed, unable to disguise his disappointment any longer. “The point is that you’re the only one of my spawn to have carried any connection to the light. You will help me with the Expansion or else.”                

                “He’s going to destroy everything Peter!” Skadi managed to shout out, knowing that Ego purposely didn’t explain what the Expansion really was. “He’s going to destroy everything we know and rebuild it all to be him!”

                Ego let out an almost animalistic growl, clenching his fist causing the light that encased her to tighten. She let out a cry of pain, feeling like she couldn’t breath and felt like her body was on fire. “Love makes us do crazy things Peter, refuse and I will kill her. As much as I want a third of us, I can accomplish what I need with two.”

                Peter looked at him and then to her. He couldn’t allow himself to be the reason why she died, so he sagged his head low, knowing he had no choice. His father grinned at him, pleased at his answer. He moved away from Skadi, but still kept a hold of her. Wrapping another tendril around her mouth, Ego silenced her cries for Peter to not listen to him.

                “Good choice, son. I’m proud of you.” Ego walked up to Peter looking up at him. He reached forward taking the Walkman that rested on his belt off. He grasped it in his hand, remembering Meredith saying how she wanted to get their child one of these when he was old enough. He smiled at the thought of her, now resting permanently and not in pain.

                “My river lily, who knew every word to every song that came on the radio.” Ego reminisced fondly, staring down at the Walkman. “I returned to earth to see her three times, I’d never returned to a place more than once. I knew if I went back a fourth, I’d never leave. The expansion, the reason for my very existence would be over. So I did what I had to do, just like how you have to right now. I will admit it did break my heart to put that tumor in her head.”

                Ego looked down at the floor, rubbing a thumb over the knobs and buttons, ready to get rid of one last trace of his love. With all his strength he crunched the device into itself, destroying the very last thing his son had from Earth. He had to understand that these attachments would be the end of them. He let the pieces fall out of his grasp and onto the floor. As the pieces fell, he looked up to his son, taking in the tears falling down his cheeks.

                “The pain will pass. I know it sounds bad-“

                Peter didn’t think twice, using his own light to break out of Ego’s, not knowing where the sudden power came from. He was a mess, his mind only thinking about what Ego had just said. Right in front of him was the reason why his mother spent all those years suffering, all those years going from hospital to hospital, until eventually it became too much and her body couldn’t handle it any longer.

                Peter pulled out his blasters, taking aim at his father without ever once relenting. Ego didn’t try to fight back, too shocked at Peter’s reaction to try too. The blast tore through him, dispersing the molecules he used to form his body. He just watched as his son shot him again, and again, and again, as his flesh disappears until his skeletal form was exposed. It wasn’t until Peter’s blasters wore out of charge, did Ego just look at him, filled with holes.

                “Who in the hell, do you think you are?” He shouted, clearly appalled, as if he was talking to a child who just got caught taking their parents car for a joy ride.

                “You killed my mother!” Peter shouted, blinded by tears and feeling hollow as the words left his mouth.

                “I had to! Like how now I have to kill her to teach you a lesson in respect!” Ego shouted, his body slowly but surely forming back together, raising a hand to summon Skadi up and to him. As he did so his body slowly began to transform, until standing before them was a man Skadi never saw before besides from the picture that Peter kept on him of that Terran actor.

                “I tried so hard to find a form that best suited you, and this is the thanks I get?” He shout before going to his original form. “You really need to grow up and maybe this will teach you.”

                Ego reached out for Skadi, ready to kill her painfully in front of his son, knowing that he would only learn by tough love. Ego would get what he wanted at the end of this day no matter what, these Guardians wouldn’t stop him.

                “I wanted to do this together, like a family but I supposed you’ll have to spend the next thousand years alone as a batter, _Star-lord_.” He teased, finally moving to touch Skadi only to stare in confusion as his hand went right through her. He tried again to grab her arm but his fingers clasped right through her. He cursed out, confused as to what was happening. Ego looked her up and down before widening his eyes in realization.

                “You know, you really shouldn’t have given me my memories back before you started your big evil plan.” Skadi’s voice appeared out of nowhere, causing both Peter and Ego to look around after seeing that her  voice wasn’t coming out of whatever Ego had his light take a hold of. Ego let go of his grip on it when he heard her voice again, taunting him.

                “Though, I really do appreciate it. I’m over here, Hasselfrau,” the real Skadi appeared from behind a pillar on the opposite side of the room.

                She didn’t give him a second to respond, shooting an array of ice, snow and cold snaps his way. She froze his molecules in place, making it impossible for him to move for a moment. Skadi knew this wouldn’t be permanent but knew help was here. The main doors were flung open, Drax easily knocking them down with his strength. Gamora, Dara, Mantis and Nebula appear behind him, all ready to jump in. Skadi’s hold on Ego was broken, Ego sending a burst of cosmic light out and blinding everyone in the room.

                Skadi rushed to Peter’s side, helping him stand straight, as she could hear Yondu and Rocket’s ship approaching. Ego could hear it too, looking up to see the ship crash through the window, smashing into him.  The other guardians rushed to the ship, ready to leave this planet once and for all. Skadi grasped onto Peter’s jacket to keep him steady, clearly seeing him all disorientated from the last twenty minutes. He shakenly snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him and kissing her abruptly.

                Not expecting this, the girl let out a short gasped that Peter found adorable. He tried to deepen the kiss, relieved to see that she was okay and slightly turned on by whatever magic trick she just pulled off. He was quickly interrupted by Gamora shouting out their names, ordering them to hurry to the ship before Ego woke back up. Skadi pulled away first knowing that now wasn’t the time and if they survived this they’d have all the time in the world to continue. Grasping his hand tightly, she led them hurriedly onto the ship where Gamora awaited them.

                “How did you do that?” Peter questioned, on their way. He saw Skadi’s confused face, unsure what was talking about. He rolled his eyes, clarifying. “The whole that wasn’t you, it was a clone but not a clone thing?”

                “Oh!” Skadi exclaimed, forgetting entirely for a moment that she’d hadn’t pulled that trick in front of him yet. “It’s a simple spell, my older brother taught it to me when I was young. It was super useful when we didn’t want to go to any of our father’s boring parties.”

                The pair reached Gamora’s outreached hands, helping them steadily board the ship. Peter looked around seeing everyone was safely aboard, Rocket walking over to them from the lower pilot’s seat. Peter and Skadi both noticed how this was one of the Ravagers escape pods and wondered how Rocket came across it. Skadi smiled widely as she felt little hands patting away at her ankle. Looking down she saw the happy face of Groot and gladly picked him up. Holding him tightly, she turned back to Gamora and Peter waiting for either one of them to give the orders.

               

                “What? No _I told you so’s_?” Peter eyed Gamora up and down, waiting for her to rub it in his face.

                “I didn’t think that was something you needed to hear right now but if you wish to then, I told you so; multiple times.” Gamora hissed, still mad at him for earlier.

                Peter frowned, at her response, looking down at his feet. “Look Gamora, I’m so sorry about the things I said, I know you just care and I didn’t mean any of it. I was just mad and I’m sorry.”

                Gamora looked him up and down, knowing that he was being sincere but wanted to make him suffer for a few more moments before she let him know that she had forgiven him. She let out a long sigh, knowing that they didn’t have the time to be petty and had to get out of here quickly. She gave him a curt nod, her way of accepting his apology.

                Skadi bit her lip at the pair, not knowing what words were said between the pair and knew that she would be asking Peter later once they got out of this mess. For now she would let it be, turning around to figure out a plan. She saw that Dara was staring her down and thought twice about maybe apologizing to her as well but decided that Dara deserved the beating Skadi gave her.

                “How do we kill a Celestial?” Drax spoke up, being the only one out of them to be paying actual attention to the now tentacle like strands of light busting up through the palace floors all around their ship.

                “There’s a center to him,” Peter explained, walking past him and towards the main piloting deck. “It’s like his brain, his soul, whatever. When I was shooting him, it didn’t hurt him because that’s just a shell he made of his true self. We need to find his core and destroy it.”

                “It’s in the caverns below the surface.” Mantis spoke up, raising her hand as if asking for permission to speak. She spoke timidly, still nervous around them all, not wanting them to turn against her.

                Skadi gave her a light smile, thanking her silently for helping them before giving Groot a kiss on his head and handing him back off to Rocket so she could go join Peter. She followed him up the ladder, both surprised to see a familiar blue Ravager sitting in one of the two seats.

                “Yondu?” Peter called, shocked to see him but still took a seat next to his former captain.

                “Hey there boy-o,” He greeted with a toothy smile, turning to greet Skadi as well, “Hey there girly.”

                Without another word Yondu, thrusted the ship upward for takeoff, laughing as he heard the Guardians below cry out in surprise. Yondu floored the engines but was held back by tentacles wrapping around the ship. In a matter of moments they were yanked back down to the floor, destroying the foundation and causing the entire castle to begin caving into itself.

                “Thrusters are out!” Yondu warns, looking at all the different emergency lights flashing on the dash board.

                Skadi bit the inside of her cheek, anxiously watching Peter start to rewire something underneath the dashboard. She thought about going back below to make sure everyone was doing okay, becoming worried for little Groot, but was unable to as the ship was jerked to the side. She was tossed forward and into Yondu’s chair, grasping on the back to keep herself in place.

                “I guess I should be glad I was a skinny kid,” Peter said once the ship steadied and was able to go back to fixing the thrusters as best he could. “Otherwise you would have delivered me to this maniac.”

                “You still reckon that’s the reason I kept you around, you idiot?” Yondu looked at him in amusement.

                “Well that’s what you always told me, you old doofus!” Peter shot back, pushing the wires away and grabbing another set to hotwire.

                “Once I figured out what happened to the other kids, I wasn’t gonna just hand you over.” Yondu explained, pausing to look at the lights made by Ego grow bigger. He was coming back.  “You almost done over there boy?”

                “Other kids?” Peter questioned, stopping to look up at him after he said that.

                Yondu sighed, ashamed that he let the truth slip out. He half expected to hear Skadi chime in two, knowing that they always stepped in for the other when the other seemed to be at a loss of words. Skadi just met eyes with him, as if telling her old mentor that she knew.

                “I thought I was just bringing him his kids to him, never asked questions until I stood a little too long after a job and overheard him talking to the kid. I couldn’t save him but I knew that when I went to grab you I wouldn’t let him find ya’ but I guess I didn’t do that great of a job.” Yondu admitted, looking ashamed with himself.

                Peter eyed him perplexed. He’d never take Yondu as one to actually care about him all of these years. He always thought Yondu picked him up just to eat him but decided against it and wanted to just use him to get into small places. “Then why not tell me that? Why spend years telling me that you were gonna eat me!”

                “I didn’t want to scare you!” Yondu defended, motioning with his hands as if it was the most obvious reason.

                “You didn’t want to scare me by telling me that you and the whole crew were gonna eat me!” Peter shouted, putting the wires away after finally finishing fixing them.

                “I was being funny!”

                “That’s being funny?” Peter shook his head in shock before taking control over the wheel. “We need to discuss what you think is scary and funny because telling a kid you’re gonna eat them on a daily basis is not funny!”

                “You people have issues,” Rocket’s voice could be heard from downstairs.

                Peter grinds his teeth together in frustration, wanting this day to be over with already. He involuntarily gasps out, along with Skadi who lets out a squeak as Ego’s skeletal form suddenly appears in front of them, larger than he was last time. He appear to be bigger than the ship.

                “Of course I have issues, that’s my fucking father!” Peter shouted, slamming on the thrusters as hard as he could without breaking them again.

                The ship flung itself forward, crashing through Ego and down into the ground below. The giant gaping hole Ego created when he destroyed was the perfect pathway for them conveniently. The Guardians screamed out from below as they held on for dear life as Peter led them down, deep into the caverns below.


	25. She Still Can Hear Him Say

* * *

 

Yondu glared at Peter as he sent them all plummeting toward a fissure in the earth below. The hole was clearly narrowing and there was no way the ship would make it out of there in one piece. He hissed at the sound of metal scrapping against the rock was the only thing he could hear, sending chills up and down his backside.

            “We need to go up!” He warned.

            “We can’t. Ego wants to eradicate the universe as we know it. We have to kill him.” Peter explained, knowing that there was no turning back regardless.

            “Well we won’t be able to kill ‘em if you kill us all first, boy!” Yondu replied, taking control back from him, trying to pull the ship to a halt.

            “No!” Skadi exclaimed, reaching as if to grab his hands.

            If they stopped Ego would get to them faster. She extended her hand out, locking his control in place by freezing the metal, using the moisture in the air to do so. He grunted at her in frustration, wanting to give her a smack upside the head but stopped when he saw her eyes glazing over.

            Outstretching her hands out to either side of her body, she pushed as hard as she could, freezing the sides of the rocky walls enough to let them shatter, making just enough room for them to push though without causing too much damage to the ship in the process.

            Peter uses this to help plummet them through the twisting tunnel and around all the corners. From below Rocket manned the lasers, shooting any piece of earth that Skadi missed, helping her clear the path from them. Together all three of them managed to get them out of the tunnels and losing Ego on the way.

            “So, we’re saving the galaxy again?” Rocket shouted up to the cockpit.

            “I guess so.” Peter smirked, turning back to wink at Skadi, earning a groan and an eye roll from her.

            “Awesome! We’ll really be able to jack up our prices now if we’re two time-galaxy savers!” Rocket replied, grinning from ear to ear.

            “That’s seriously where your mind goes?” Gamora squinted at him. She still held on to whatever she could in order to not be tossed around the cargo hold carelessly. Looking at Rocket, she couldn’t help but shake her head at the rodent.

            “It’s just a random thought. Of course I care about all the planets, the buildings, and all the animals on the planets.” Rocket shrugged, making eye contact with Groot. The little guy was resting on his shoulder, holding tightly onto Rocket’s vest. Groot replied to him, narrowing his eyes at his fury friend. Rocket chuckled at his response before responding back. “Yes, and all the trees too.”

            They finally reached the center of the planet, all trying to think of a plan to destroy the core. Skadi let out a huge sigh, relaxing her muscles and cracking her fingers. She would usually be burnt out by now but surprisingly she felt not as tired as she usually would be.

            “Why’d Ego want you here?” Skadi perked her ears up as Yondu turned to face Peter.

            “He needs my genetic connection to that,” Peter nodded towards the shining light in the center of the cavern, “to help destroy the universe. He tried to teach me how to control it but,-“

            “Could you?” Yondu cut to the chase, knowing Peter all too well. He was smart, and talented but it took forever for the kid to apply himself. It took Yondu forever to get the kid to pick up basic pick locking, let alone learning how to control strange, cosmic like powers.

            “He made a ball.” Skadi chuckled, remember Peter running to her yesterday all excited about what his father had showed him.

            “A ball?” Yondu turned to scrunch his nose up at her.

            Peter scoffed, offended by his response. He had worked really hard to make that ball. He wasn’t like Skadi were she always knew how to use some semblance of her powers or like Yondu were he was trained for years in using his Yaka arrow. “I thought as hard as I could, that’s all I could come up with.”

            Yondu chuckled, shaking his head lightly; the boy never learned. “You think when I make this arrow fly I use my head?”

            “Well I mean yeah,” Peter said, motioning to his fin.

            The pair were looking at each other instead of where they were going as Skadi looked between the pair. She frowned for no particular reason besides really somewhat awkward hearing Yondu’s words. She looked away, feeling like she was interrupting a moment only to let out a yell, putting a hand on either one of their shoulders to grab their attention.

            “Look out!” She shouted, tightening her grip.

            Peter and Yondu snapped out of it, turning forward to see that they were about to crash into an overhanging rock. Peter swerved to the right, causing the ship to side swipe the rock. The entire side door was ripped off, screeching as the ship jerked about from the impact. Peter hits the breaks, falling forward into the wheel. Everyone let out a groan, either from the shock and whiplash they’d just experienced from Peter piloting skills.

            “Is everyone alright?” He called, standing up from his seat.

            He helped lead Skadi down the ladder to join the others, leaving Yondu to keep watch. The pair walked down to see Gamora, Mantis and Drax, and even Nebula standing near the open door, all staring out into the open space. The center of the planet wasn’t too far off, the only issue was figuring out a way to destroy it. The ore surrounding it was thick and it appeared as if the only way to get to it was from a small tunnel.

            “That’s Ego’s core.” Mantis confirmed, her voice sounding almost excited to finally see it after all these years.

            “We’re gonna need a bigger laser.” Rocket plopped down from his seat to join them. “The ones on this ship are practically fried.”

            “We must hurry, it will not take long for Ego to find us.” Mantis informed him, trying not to squeal at his cuteness.         

            Rocket scurried back to his chair, trying his best to mod this lasers so they’d all turn into one big one, hoping that it’d be enough power. He shouts up at Yondu, telling him to keep the ship steady as he tried to fire off the laser. The laser begins to make a dent, filling the Guardians up with hope. It didn’t last long though, because moments later the ship lurched backwards, causing the laser to aim at the ceiling. Rocket cursed as rocks were now raining down on them as he quickly rushed to turn of the machine.

            Drax, Mantis and Gamora were forced out of the ripped apart door, tumbling out. Peter and Skadi called out for them but were unable to help, as they were tossed backwards into a heap. Nebula and Dara quickly grabbed onto the floor, trying their hardest to not be thrown out. As the ship settles, they all stood up, Skadi rushing to check outside to see if the others made it out alright. She could see them from down below, staring back up at them.

            “It’s the Sovereign!” Rocket shouted, having been able to see them begin to surround them. “They managed to blow out the generator! I think I packed a small detonator, give me a second.” Rocket began to pour out the contents of his satchel.

            Groot jumped off of him, rushing to Skadi’s side. She, without a thought picked him up again, letting him stand on her shoulder and hold on to her hair to keep himself steady as more hits crashed against the ship. “You’ll need something to set it off though, right?”

            “I have this!” Rocket smirked slyly revealing the Anulax batteries he had stolen from the Sovereign from what had already seemed like forever ago.

            “Will it be strong enough?” Quill asked, watching him mess around with the detonator and wires.

            “Probably,” he admitted. “If it is, it will cause a chain reaction throughout his entire nervous system.”

            “Meaning?” Dara finally spoke up, coming out from the shadows, eyeing them all angrily. She was tired and not feeling the least bit heroic enough to save the galaxy again.

            “The entire planet will explode. We’ll have to get out of here fast.” Rocket told her, not still over how she sold him out. “I rigged a timer.”

            Peter nods, offering to go with him. Skadi goes to follow them as the two slapped on their aero rigs. Peter looked at her as if he was going to protest but closed his mouth when he saw her face. She looked hell-bent on helping, her eyebrows narrowed, her forehead creasing. Her eyes were already glazed over, telling him that she was going and he wouldn’t be fussing over her.

            Without a word the three flew out of the ship, Groot now being held by Skadi so he wouldn’t fall off. They swerve as they flew to their destination, only just avoiding the gunfire. Zooming as fast as their aero-rigs could go, Skadi kept at pace with them not wanting to chance anything happening to them if she left them behind. Messily, they all land into the small cavern. Rocket wasted no time, already shining a flashlight inside the cavity, exposing the interior.

            “The rock is too thick, for the bomb to work we’d actually need to place it on Ego’s core.” Rocket moved forward being the only one of them to fit any further. He moved as far as he could go, stopping and turning back to them. “Our fat asses ain’t fitting through those tiny holes.”

            Peter frowned underneath his mask, having activating it before exiting the ship. He didn’t have time to think of a way they could fit any further. Placing his hands on his hips, he turned to look between Rocket and Skadi. His eye caught baby Groot, who was nestling into Skadi’s neck while absentmindedly playing with a leaf on his arm. Quill looked between the little tree and the hole and then back to Groot. An idea began forming in his mind; it wasn’t a great idea but it was the only one he could think off.

            “Well….” Peter motioned to Groot.

            Rocket and Skadi’s jaws dropped. That was a terrible idea. Rocket remembered only hours ago when it took at least fifty tries to get Groot to find Yondu’s fin. Groot wasn’t capable of doing something this dangerous alone yet. He’d only been grown and out of his pot for a little over a month. Skadi silently agreed with Rocket just by knowing what he was thinking from the distraught look on his face. Skadi refused to let her little Groot do something like this alone.

            “Absolutely not.” She stomped her foot, putting her hands in front of Groot defensively as if preparing for Peter to rip him out of her gasps.

            “Babe, it’s the only idea we got, unless you can think of something else.” Peter’s eyes pleaded with her harsh ones. “We don’t have much time.”

            Skadi bit her lip as she turned her head from him, pouting her lips out. She tried thinking of another plan. Maybe she could do what she did before? She could break the rock with her ice and make more room for them. It would probably take time since they didn’t have a ship barreling down it to help smash it all. As she tried thinking of a plan she felt a soft tug on her hair.

            Looking down she saw Groot eyeing her with big eyes. He pushed her hands away, letting himself jump down and plop onto the ground. He began walking to Rocket, explaining how he could handle this, and that she had nothing to worry about; he had been the reason why they were able to escape the Ravager ship before after all.

            Skadi frowned after him, trying to trust him and his cute little voice trying to reassure her. She smiled down at him, nodding her head in approval before turning to Peter. Peter gave her a gentle smile back before telling Rocket to explain the bomb to Groot while he and Skadi defended the cavern from the Sovereign and Ego, whenever he decided to show up. The pair began to exit the cavern overhearing Rocket muttering under his breath about how he had to do everything. Peter shook his head, tired and ready for a long nap.

            “Uh, what a day.”

           

 

 


	26. Now You're All Loved Out

* * *

 

            Quill and Skadi had been fighting back to back; Peter firing off his blasters as Skadi hailed down cold blasts at the Sovereign ships. Skadi’s nerves were on a wire, not from the battle, her knowing that Peter and she had the others backs. No, it was because of hearing Rocket through their comms yelling at Groot as he tried to explain the plan to him. She knew Groot was too young to understand no matter how eager he was to help them. She knew that they’d be able to beat off the Sovereign ships but once Ego arrived they’d be lucky to escape him.

            “Hey, you’re making him nervous!” Peter finally shouted, hearing enough of Rocket’s harsh voice.

            Rocket angrily hit his head with his small paws. Peter had no idea how tiring it was after just gone through the same thing before. “Shut up and give me some tape! Does anyone have any tape? I want to put some tape over the death button!”

            “We don’t have tape.” Skadi exclaimed. Why would any of them have tape right now? It wasn’t a common thing for anyone to carry. If anyone would have tape it would be him.

            “I’ll go check the ship!” Peter offers, zooming off towards the ship.

            Skadi shook her head, ignoring him shouting around asking everyone if they had tap on them. She zoomed through the air, figuring that that more she moved around the harder it was for the Sovereign ships to get aim on her. She blasts through ships, creating a thick aura around her, almost as if it was like some short of force field. The Asgardian princess didn’t think twice about crashing through the envoy units knowing that they were remotely piloted.

            After taking down a handful a ships, she paused for a breather, feeling out of shape. Years with memory loss really made her let herself go, she noted to herself with a deep breath. Turning around to head back into the crossfire, her eyes widened when she saw Dara, using her powers to form a stairway of rocks up towards the surface. Narrowing her eyes she flew as fast as she ever had, barreling through more ships on her way to the Badoon.

            “Where do you think you’re going?” She shouted, halting her body a few feet away from Dara. She kept her hands clenched at her side, letting her hair flow in the wind. Jerking a finger back towards where she came, she addressed the Badoon again, sternly. “The fight is back that way.”

            “For you it is,” Dara sneered, pausing her steps, but continued to form her escape in front of her. “I’m not sticking around anymore. Yondu’s ship is parked up there somewhere and I’ll be taking it and going home.”

            Skadi flared her nostrils, eyes boring straight through her. She flung her arms out, feeling hurt and betrayed by her course of action. “So that’s it? After everything, you’re just going to abandon us? After everything we’ve been through together; you’re going to leave us here to die.”

            “Oh please, don’t be so dramatic.” Dara rolled her eyes, continuing her ascend. As she hoped from rock to rock, she groaned as Skadi followed her. “You’ll figure a way out, most likely. We’ve pulled off more surprising feats.”

            “You know, I really wanted you to prove me wrong, but I guess everyone was right about you. Badoon’s only care about themselves.” Skadi hissed, raising her arms in a fighting stance. “I’m not letting you steal that ship, so either stop and help us or-,”

            Dara screamed out, irritated with her nagging. When did she become as annoying with nagging like Gamora was? Dara lashed out, baring her teeth as she shot out at Skadi before the girl could even try to defend herself. Dara underestimated her all this time and wouldn’t go easy on her any longer. The girl clearly had tricks up her sleeves and Dara wouldn’t give her the chance to use them.

            The air was knocked out of Skadi’s lungs as she was pushed backwards, flying through the air. She could hear the chaos around her, Ayesha’s voice broadcasting through the envoys, saying how the Guardians would regret making a mockery of them or some other nonsense. Skadi didn’t really care at the moment as she could still feel Dara’s hold still on her making it impossible for her to stop herself no matter how hard she to tried to break free.

            It wasn’t until she was at a great distance did Dara let her go, letting her fly right into a large rock pillar that was near Gamora, Mantis and Drax. With a huff Skadi smacked against the hard structure, letting her body sink to the ground. She held her stomach, using the other hand to reach behind her to rub her back. Wincing, she looked up to see Gamora rushing over to her.

            Gamora helped the girl stand up straight, glad to see that she was okay and only had the wind knocked out of her. The green woman led her over to Drax and Mantis, where the later had been being protected from the former as she kept Ego asleep with her powers. Mantis was clearly in pain as she tried to keep the Celestial at bay but it was clear that he was fighting back.

            The three Guardians looked up at the sound of a large bang. Yondu’s ship had laser beams shouting out in all directions, Peter noted that it had looked like a disco ball. The lasers sliced through nearly every envoy, cutting Ayesha’s forces down drastically. It didn’t take long until all the ships were destroyed, their wreckage raining down from the skies.

            Peter had gone back to Yondu’s ship, after finding no tape for Rocket. He stood next to Nebula watching the Sovereign fleet all explode like fireworks. He had a wave of hope wash over him; maybe there was a chance of them getting out of this alive. He turned on his heels, ready to tell Yondu to have Kraglin prepare the Quadrant to come pick them up. It wouldn’t be long before Groot set off the bomb.

            From the corner of his eye, Peter could see something flaming come their way from the window. He turned to fully face the window, eyes widened as he realized one of the ships managed to survive and was now on fire and flying right at them.

            “Everybody move!” He shouted, warning Nebula and Yondu that they had to leave.

            Skadi cried out, rising up from the ground a couple feet as she saw the last envoy crash into Yondu’s ship causing it to explode on impact. Drax, who stood near her, managed to pull her down by her ankle. He knew that she intended to fly into the fiery wreckage to try and save Peter but he knew she’d only get herself killed in the process. Drax pulled her to him, so that her back rested against her chest.

            “No! Let me go! Peter!” She cried out, fighting against his arms that held her back.

            Drax solemnly kept a straight face, hoping that the Star-lord was able to get out in time, watching with Gamora as a small body came flying down from the smoke. Unlike Gamora, Skadi was disappointed to see Nebula landing safety on her feet. Skadi cursed out but caught herself when she saw two more figures slowly joining the daughter of Thanos.

            Peter and Yondu descended out of the smoke, Quill using his aero-rig and Yondu holding onto his arrow. Skadi let out a large sigh of relief as Drax let go of her slowly. She turned to smile at him in a way to say thank you, knowing that he had done that because he cared. Drax crossed his arms against his large chest, smiling back at her.

            Peter looked up to Yondu, amazed at how they managed to escape that. Peter let out a snicker, catching his mentors attention, “What ya’ laughing at boy?”

            “You kinda look like Mary Poppins.” Peter recalled one of his childhood favorites. He and his mom watched that movie so many times that they had to buy a new copy because the tape began to eat itself.

            “Was he cool?” Yondu questioned, unsure if Peter dared to insult him after he just saved the boy’s life.

            “Yeah, he was cool.” Peter smiled up at him warmly, not having to tell him that Mary Poppins was actually a woman.

            “I’m Marry Poppins y’all!” Yondu shouted down to the Guardians, as they came in for the landing.

            Peter sees Skadi marching towards him, a determined look on her face. He looks at her questionably, unsure what he did to make her look at him like that. As she finally closes the distance between them, reaching up to grasp his jacket with both hands. She tugs on him angrily, mad that he had her worried like that. Gently, she kicked her feet off the ground, floating up until she was eye to eye with him, closing their height difference.

            “Don’t make me worry about you like that again.” She snapped, brows furrowed at him. Without letting him respond, she let her face relax and pulled him into a rough kiss.

            Peter, knowing now how she felt back in the castle earlier, was startled, but smirked into the kiss. He cradled her head, liking how roughly her lips were brushing against his. He bite her lip before returning her movements, completely ignoring everyone giving them grossed out looks, especially Rocket who had just joined them after seeing the ship explode.

            The pair reluctantly let each other go after hearing that all too familiar whistle. Out of habit they both jumped in fear, as if they’d find an arrow right at their neck. It took them a second to shake it off, looking at Yondu angrily. He laughed at them, showing off his jagged teeth. His laugh was loud and contagious apparently because Drax soon joined him.

            “Ugh,” Rocket gagged, “Can we get back to work here?”

            “Right,” Peter shook his head, grasping Skadi’s hand and pulled her to go stand with the others. “How much longer can you keep him asleep?”

            Mantis looked up at Quill, looking slightly pained. She couldn’t hold him much longer, no matter how hard she kept trying. Ego was stronger than her and was fighting back even as he was unconscious. She could feel him jolt with power causing an electrical current rush through her body. Letting out a pained cry, Mantis was tossed backwards, losing hold of Ego.

            “Apparently not much longer.” Rocket stared at her in shock.

            Gamora shook her head at him, rushing to her alongside Drax. Drax picked her up in his arms as Gamora, being the mother that she was, checked over her for any life threatening injuries. Seeing none and noting that the girl’s pulse was still strong, Gamora looked at Peter for direction.

            “How long until the bomb goes off?” Peter questions Rocket, trying to think of a plan quickly.

            “Well, in the unlikely event that Groot doesn’t kill us all, about six minutes.” Rocket shrugs at him.

            Peter nods, looking at Yondu. He doesn’t even have to say anything before Yondu knows what he wants. Yondu grasps at the communicator on his jacket, calling up to Kraglin. Ordering for his first mate to bring down the Quadrant for extraction in five minutes, he nods to Peter in confirmation. Peter nods back before looking back at his team.

            “Someone needs to be up tope when Kraglin arrives.” Peter began, pointing to Drax. “Drax, take Mantis and signal Kraglin when he gets there.”

            “Dara’s up there.” Skadi spoke up.

            “Oh right, I forgot about her for a second.” Rocket smirked, chuckling to himself.

            “You’ll need someone to go up with you,” Skadi rolled her eyes, ignoring Rocket and getting back to business. “She means to steal the ship and she’ll cut through you to do it.”

            “We’ll go with him,” Gamora offers her and Nebula up as his backup. Seeing Nebula not looking as willingly, Gamora shot her a dangerous glare. “Won’t we Nebula?”

            “Whatever,” the blue alien huffed, crossing her arms against her chest.

            “I only have three aero-rigs on me,” Rocket walked up to them, reaching into his satchel again and pulling out the aero-rigs. “We still need a way to get up there once the bomb goes off so I can only give you two.”

            “I’m not being carried like a child.” Nebula protested, putting her foot down.

            “Well we don’t have time to argue Nebula,” Gamora hissed, taking one of the two Rocket offered and slapped it on her own back, moving to grab her sister. Nebula took a step back, wanting to hold on to the last of her pride. “Nebula!”

            Peter rolls his eyes, knowing they didn’t have time for this. He rips his aero-rig off of his back, slapping it onto Nebula’s and snatched the last one Rocket held. The Star-lord put it on the Destroyers back, sending him up on his way. Gamora blinked at his quick actions before sending a nod of approval. She then set off with Nebula to follow Drax up to the surface.

            “Okay good idea dipshit, but now we’re still short and aero-rig, how do you plan on getting out of here now?” Rocket yelled, putting the last unused aero-rig back in his satchel. “I ain’t carrying ya.”

            “I will.” Skadi shut him up. “Now can we get back to it? Ego’s awake and is going to start attacking any moment now. You need to get back to the cavern and get ready to get Groot!”

            Before Rocket could tell her off for talking down to him like that they were all distracted by the ground shaking beneath them suddenly. The ground around them split, forming an enormous crack that separated Rocket and Yondu from Peter and Skadi. Another crack began to form, almost causing Skadi to fall to the depths below but her quick thinking allowed her to fly in the air, holding Peter’s hand tighter to keep him from falling below too.

            The pair shared a wary look, seeing a blinding light begin to appear in the distance. The closer it got they were able to make Ego’s figure within it and he did not look happy.


	27. Baby, We've Been A Long Way

* * *

 

Gamora and Nebula had already been engaged in a heated battle with Dara; it had only been moments after they submerged to the surface when they been torn down to the ground by the awaiting Badoon. Drax had managed to avoid her eye, Dara taking out all her anger on Nebula for destroying their ship and marooning them on this planet. Gamora fought for her sister, surprised as Dara used less of her powers than Gamora had expected and instead deciding to use her claw like nails to slash blows against them.

            Just as Nebula moved to swipe a hit against the Badoon, all three girls were halted in their attacks by light tentacles shooting up from the earth in a burst. Each warrior was grabbed and forced to the ground by Ego, preventing them from moving. Within seconds, Drax joined them, being pulled down to the ground, raising Mantis above is head in order for her to not get dragged as well. Gamora screamed out in anger, hoping that this wasn’t a sign of the others failing.

            From below, Quill blasted another one of his father’s tentacle, preventing it from making a grab at him. Off behind Yondu was doing the same, whistling repeatedly as his arrow weaved through Ego and destroying them. Rocket tossed as many tiny bombs as he had at the tentacles trying to snatch him up; he was trying to get back to Groot, wanting to get ready to grab him once he activated the bomb. Skadi seeing him trying to escape Ego’s clutches rushed to his side and began freezing the tentacles as they came up from the earth below them.

            Peter turned around hearing something approaching him from behind. He could see his father, still in a strange skeletal light form, strolling casually down towards him as the land around him parted like the red sea. As Ego walked, the dirt around him formed into molecules that he used to form organs, meat, then skin, piecing himself back together. Once he’s back to looking like the man Peter met, Ego pushed his hand out, causing more light to outreach towards the Guardians.

            Yondu is the first to be slammed into the ground, as the dirt was lifted up by the light and began to cover his entire body. Yondu cried out, trying to get his arrow to move faster to help Peter but had to stop in order to keep his breathing steady as he began to be crushed by rock, soil and light. Rocket was next to be taken by Ego. The raccoon hollered, letting his fear show for the first time as he was overwhelmed by the tentacles surrounding him. He reached for more of his tiny bombs, hoping he had restocked but found he only had a handful left. He knew though that they wouldn’t be enough to keep him from Ego’s grasp.

            Peter watched helplessly as he continued to fire at his father. He could hear Skadi, calling out to Rocket and figured that the raccoon met the same fate as Yondu. This made Peter push harder, firing more rapidly. He took direct aim at Ego, trying to not get discouraged as the shots did nothing to him. His father most have been more powerful the closer he was to the core because it wasn’t like before when Peter was able to shoot hole through him. He turned back to look towards Skadi, seeing her struggling to keep herself out of Ego’s grasp. Peter whimpered, feeling his eyes begin to tear up as he feared that they wouldn’t get out of this alive; Peter really started to think that this was it.

            Ego approached his son, fully formed and truly himself. His dark eyes hardened as he watched his son shot at the tentacles that were slowly slithering around his girlfriend. Ego chuckled at how pathetic they all looked.

            “I told you I don’t want to do this alone!” Ego shouted, feeling his extension of himself fully take hold of the Asgardian. He gripped her tightly, causing her to cough out. Pulling her harshly towards him, he reached out to grab her with his own hand once she reached him. “You cannot deny the purpose the universe has bestowed upon you!” 

            Ego pointed at Peter and once again the light tendrils stab through his son’s back, thrusting him to his knees. Smaller tendrils stab into his face and body, keeping him still and forced to looking straight at Ego. The light within Peter could be seen steadily being sucked out of Quill and up into Ego’s core. Ego let in a deep breath, feeling the power enter his system. He used both hands now, power pulsating through them, to grasp Skadi by the neck, letting his light let go of her. Without anything to hold her, Skadi gagged, feeling herself clasping for her, using her hands to claw at Ego’s wrist. She tried using her powers but there was something about the power going through her from Ego’s hands that prevented her from doing so.

            “It didn’t need to be like this Peter, but you want and tried to destroy our chance. I thought killing her would be the ultimate punishment,” Ego said, almost sadly looking at his son. “But, I think a far worse punishment would be to keep her alive. I’ll keep her and you alive as I rebuild this universe. With you as a permanent battery and forced to watch as I once again take away all of her memories, and I mean all of them. I’ll make her forget about you, the Guardians. I’ll keep her as my pet since you stole my old one.”

            Peter tried reaching out to them but was barely able to focus as he felt the energy being drained out of him. He tried to remember what it felt like creating his ball of light, wanting to replicate that feeling to get them all out of this. No matter how hard he thought nothing happened besides him being completely helpless. Yondu struggled beneath all the earth, calling out to Peter to try and get the boy’s attention. He knew what he was trying to do and he was still going about it all the wrong way. Peter was thinking too hard and nothing good came out of him when he did that. He was overthinking it.

            “I don’t use my head to fly the arrow, boy! I use my hear-,”

            Peter could hear the earth fully cover Yondu’s face but the tendrils on his face prevented him from looking. He could still hear his voice though, not quite sure what Yondu was talking about. Yondu was the last person Quill thought would use sentiments in order to use his arrow. How was that even possibly? How could Peter use his heart to harness the power his father passed down to him?

            He looked inward, tears coming to his eyes as he thought of those around him. He couldn’t let him all die because of his father. And Skadi, he wouldn’t let the fate Ego was about to give her happen. He remembered back when he and her first met, how scared she was walking aboard the Ravager ship for the first time; it was that moment when Peter saw himself when he first boarded the ship and decided to be the person he wished he had when he was taken aboard to her. He remember how close they quickly became, he remember all the missions they went on, and all the sleepless nights they spent just talking. He remembered when he first realized he loved her, their first kiss, and then last night.

            He also thought about the other Guardians and how much of a family they had become without even realizing it until now. His remembered him and Drax’s random, late night, hysterical conversations they’d have occasionally when everyone else was asleep; he even thought back to the one time he and Drax had a deep conversation about the Destroyer’s wife and daughter one night. Peter remembered making up mission plans and strategies with Gamora, and learning a lot from her; he also remembered the time he caught her singing along to his Walkman and how she denied it. He remembered seeing Groot’s first steps with all of the Guardians, Skadi excitedly calling them all into the common area after walking pass his pot to see the little guy trying to walk towards the end of the table. And even thought Rocket and him still had their differences he still remembered the small moments where they weren’t at each other’s throats; he remembered when they both acted like kids, flying through the skies as they tested out the aero-rigs for the first time.

            And he couldn’t forget about Yondu, who he only just found out took him all the years ago to protect him. He had really cared for him all those years; and all those years Peter had been terrible to him. He stole from him, disobeyed him and was ungrateful when Yondu raised him, taught him how fight, and how to survive out in space. Yondu was more of a father than Ego ever would be.

            Ego took everything from him; his mother and now he was going to take his family. The more he reflected the anger he got. He thought about how Ego destroyed the last thing he had from his mother so carelessly. He and his mother would stay up all night, looking up at the stars listening to that Walkman. The tape he only got to spend so little time with was the last gift from his mother and now it was gone.

            Quill looked back up at Ego, clutching his fist as a light began to grow within it. Bits of earth began to roll up and scramble around his body, as if he was pulling it to him with magnets. Ego looks surprised, but not faltering as he continued to let his own light flow through Skadi, feeling the girl fall into unconsciousness. Peter glares at his father harder, his voice finding its way out of his mouth.

            “You shouldn’t have threatened my family, killed my mom and squished my Walkman.”

            A solid tornado of earth propels the Star-lord forward. Ego tries to protect himself as his son slams into him, causing him to let go of the girl as Peter flew them both upwards. Quill rose his first, now a giant club thanks to the earth surrounding him. He smashes his hand against Ego’s face never feeling this much anger and power before in his life. As his son keeps hitting him, Ego loses his concentration, never coming across a person who was this close to being his equal before.

            As Ego becomes distracted by Peter the Guardians are finally freed from his clutches, all gasping out from finally feeling free. Rocket is the first to go back into business, rushing to go grab Groot, hoping and pleading that he was okay. He shouted down into the cavern, hoping the little tree could hear him,

            “Groot! Groot! If you can hear me hurry up! I don’t know how long Peter can keep him distracted!”

            Gamora and Nebula took a defensive stance as Dara was already standing, eying them up and down. Drax placed Mantis over his shoulders, turning to watch what the Badoon would do, unsure if he should drop the creepy bug lady and join the two daughters of Thanos in combat if combat is what Dara called for again. Gamora stepped forward, raising her hands up in surrender, causing Drax to raise a confused eye at her. It was unlike the Zen-Whoberi to give up in a battle.

            “Dara,” Gamora shouted, sending pleading eyes at her as she took another fighting stance. “Let’s put our differences aside for this one time. Help us leave this planet and I promise you we will personally take you to the Badoon home world. I swear it on my life.”

            “Your sister swore the same and look where I am!” Dara shouted back, untrusting.

            “I am not my sister.” Gamora shot Nebula an apologetic look, but knew she had to say what she needed to get Dara to stand down. “I make promises I know I can keep. I promised you back on the Kyln that if you helped me, I’d help you break out and I followed through with my promised. There is nothing different about this time.”

            Dara bit her lip, knowing she didn’t have much of a chose. She didn’t want to trust them again but couldn’t find a reason not to. Gamora was right in saying that she wasn’t her sister. Gamora had more conviction in her promises. But she really meant it, she was done with the Guardians. Her time with them was short and she felt like that was what was meant to be. She wasn’t a hero and she couldn’t easily be turned into one like they could. She had people she had to return to and a war to go back to.

            “Fine, but the moment we get off this planet we’re setting course to mine.” Dara stuck her hand out for Gamora to shake.

            Gamora stepped forward, prepared for this to be a trick but tried to not think so little of Dara. Even though for a moment they had seemed to be getting a better understanding of the other, and even a friendship, Gamora knew that there were just some people who were stuck in their ways. Dara showed that she was capable of change but in the end she didn’t want to. She liked who she was and Gamora couldn’t really see it as her place to argue with her on it anymore.

            The two shook hands firmly, waiting to see if the other would double cross the other. After a moment they two were content with the other and began to make their way back to the Quadrant that was now lowering down towards them.

            Back below, Yondu was finally free and standing. Looking up into the skies as Peter flung is father around, flying through the air with him. Yondu knew that Peter could hold him off but only for so long. The boy learned but his father was a master. There was no way Peter was getting out of here if Ego had anything to too with it. Yondu wouldn’t let the kid he grew to care for go out like that.

            He walked towards Skadi seeing that she was still unconscious and laying sprawled out on the ground. Kneeling down, he gently lifted her up into his lap and patted her face. When that did nothing to stir her awake he started shaking her shoulders and patting her face a little harder.

            “Girly,” He shouted, shaking her firmer. “I need ya’ to wake up, Skadi! Wake up!” He watched her face start to contort into a look of discomfort, slowly opening her eyes before closing them again for a second before reopening them. “Hey, there you are, you okay?”

            “Yea-eas,” Skadi dragged out, trying to sit up, using her elbows to prop herself up along with Yondu’s help. “What happened?”

            “Your boy’s fighting Ego. I need you to get to the surface,” Yondu explained slowly, seeing that she was still slightly out of it. Helping her stand on her feet he began to speak again to her, softly this time, “Go help your friends, they need you okay?”

            “What about you? Peter?” Skadi questioned, feeling herself get more awake and self-aware of what was happening. “I’m not leaving you two here.”

            Yondu frowned at her, knowing that she would fight him on this. He hated lying to the girl; she was so innocent in that sense. She would try to help him save Peter from Ego even if it meant endangering herself. “I’m going to get Peter to the ship, don’tcha worry, I’m going to get him back to you. I just need ya’ to get out of here.”

            “But,-“

            “Skadi, darlin’ I need you to go up there now,” He said trying to hide his grief.

            “We’re about to blow!”  Rocket, carrying Groot, interrupts the pair, flying down to hover besides them. Rocket could sense he interrupted a moment and scratched his neck as he addressed them.

            Yondu inwardly curses, hoping that he could’ve gotten Skadi to leave without having to explain his plan. “Get to the ship then, I already told you more than twice now, don’t make me say it again!”

            “Not without Quill,” Rocket shakes his head, unsure as to what conversation he walked into.

            “I’m savin’ Quill,” Yondu shook his head too, wanting them to get the hint and leave.

            “How are you getting out of here? Huh?” Rocket questioned, Skadi crossing her arms in agreement not understanding how Yondu planned on saving Quill.

            “I’ll figure it out, I always do.” He smirked, showing his teeth. He looked between Rocket and Skadi, “You gotta take care of the twig, and Peter will kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

            “We’re not leaving you.” Skadi demanded, marching towards him, firmly staring at him.

            She soon figured out what he was up to. He was going to sacrifice himself for them and she wouldn’t lose him to Ego. She grabbed his jacket, willing him to listen to her, “Why? You don’t have to do this alone, I’ll stay, I’ll help yo-,”

            “You need to give me this, I ain’t done nothing right my whole damn life.” Yondu grabbed her hands and shoved them off him. He didn’t want to be harsh but if it got her to listen then he’d do it.

            “That’s bullshit!” Skadi shouted, pushing him against his shoulder. “You saved Peter from Ego when he was a child when you could’ve just kept getting paid and you saved me from Hala when you had no reason too! So to hell with the whole pity me act, you’re not doing this alone!”

            Yondu watched as the girl was reduced to tears upon realizing that there was no talking Yondu out of this. She was like him in the sense that when Yondu wanted something, he got it. Her lip trembled not realizing that she’d be this upset over him. Had she spent years being grateful to him? Yes. Year’s almost looking up to him? Of course. But she’d also spent years resenting him for being so harsh and cruel to herself and Peter. She never understood why he had to be that way to them when he was the one who choose to take them in. But now it made sense, now she understood that that was just his way of hiding the fact that he really cared for them.

            She’d never done so before so at first it felt weird to both of them but Skadi didn’t regret shoving herself onto him and trapping him in a tight hug. She held onto him tightly and she had to admit that it felt good. She hadn’t hugged someone in this way since she was a girl; it was a different kind of love she felt compared to when she hugged Peter. Yondu felt like a different kind of safe and warm, which was surprising to her, thinking that he’d shove her off by now.

            She was shocked to find his arms finding their way around her body, pulling her closer to him than she already was. More tears fell from her eyes because of this and she held on more tightly. The hug only last a couple of seconds more, Yondu gently removing her from his person, knowing that they were running out of time. He wiped some tears from her eyes but his efforts were fruitless, as more just kept coming out. He blinked away some of his own. He’d already broken down and hugged her, he wouldn’t let her last image of him be of him crying.

            “Bye, girly.” Yondu managed to speak out, giving her a heartfelt grin.

            “Thank you Yondu,” Skadi smiled back, stretching up on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek before moving to join Rocket and Groot. She felt a pinged in her heart as Groot hoped from Rocket to her, reaching out to hug her face, not liking to see her upset.

            Rocket clears his throat, hesitantly hovering towards Yondu. He grabbed the last aero-rig and something else from his bag. Shakenly he hands them to Yondu, feeling guilty at allowing this. If they survived Peter would be furious at him surely.

            “I have a space suit and an aero rig; only one of each but you already knew that.” Rocket frowned as Yondu took them from his hands. Rocket wanted to say something else, something of thanks or anything but he couldn’t find that words to say, so instead Groot spoke up.

            “What was that?” Yondu asked, still unsure as to how anyone could understand a word the tree spoke.

            Both Skadi and Rocket smirked at the little guy, amused by his word chose but also unamused. Rocket turned to face Yondu, beaming, “He says welcome to the freakin’ Guardians of the Galaxy”

            “Except,” Skadi cut him off, sending a somewhat parental look down at baby Groot, “He didn’t use the word freakin’.”

            “Thanks twig,” Yondu laughed, as they began to fly away. He gave them one last look, sharing another glance with Skadi, both feeling proud of the other.

            As Skadi and Rocket flew up and towards the surface, Rocket got closer to Skadi so he could get a better look at Groot. Rocket opened his mouth to scold the little guy, “After all this is over we’re gonna need to have a discussion about your language.”


	28. I Know I Have To Go

* * *

 

            The next time all the Guardians were safety reunited they all stood in front of a table that the body of the former Ravager captain rested upon. Around Yondu’s body, various colored cloths laid in strips over his body and face. Yaro lilies were beneath him, red-fire pyres and the toy’s Yondu collected lay all around him. The Guardians, including Kraglin, now surrounded the table; the only figure not there was Dara, but no one was complaining, having only spoke a few words to her since they all boarded and took off to space.

            Quill cleared his throat, knowing that he wanted to speak; he wanted to honor Yondu but had trouble finding his voice. The entire situation was still a shock to him. It’d been one night cycle since they managed to defeat his father and blast off to space. None of them really got any sleep, all still on high alert and feeling restless. Quill figured he’d only got an hour or two of sleep last night. He’d spent most of it cuddling up with Skadi near some port hole, looking out into the stars and crying. The rest of the time they spent trying to clean up the ship and find some food.

            Skadi reached out and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together, giving him the support he needed to start speaking. He gave her a sad smile, before opening his mouth to talk.

            “The other day Skadi brought up how I used to pretend my dad was David Hasselhoff,” Peter saw Rocket and Drax exchange a confused look, neither hearing that name before. “He’s a singer and actor from Earth, a really famous guy,” Peter explains.

             “Anyway, you know, last night it hit me. Even though Yondu didn’t have a talking car, he did have a flying arrow. And he didn’t have the voice of an angel but he sure knew how to whistle. And both David Hasselhoff and Yondu went on kickass adventures and hooked up with hot woman, and fought robots. So the thing is, David Hasselhoff kinda did end up being my Dad after all, only he was Yondu. I had a pretty cool Dad.”

            Peter paused, trying to stop himself from crying again. His eyes were still red and sore from all the crying he did last night. He scowled, “What I’m trying to say is that the thing you’re searching for your whole life, sometimes is right by your side all along and you don’t know it.”

            Skadi looked down at her feet as Peter finished speaking. Her jaw was clenched as she took in everything he said. She finally had what she spent most of her life searching for. Both of her lives in fact. Ever since waking up in that Kree cell, she desperately begged any higher force out there to grant her memories back to her. Now she finally had them. Back when she was on Asgard she could remember always wanting freedom. She loved her mother, her brothers, her friends and the life she had but she always hated the constriction that being a princess brought.  She couldn’t make choices on her own, always having to go begging to her father or sneaking behind her families back with Loki. And now she had all the freedom she wanted.

            But why was she not satisfied. She tried placing her deep thought on Yondu’s passing but she felt the void inside her was bigger than that. She still felt empty and confused on what step to take next. She knew she’d forever be a Guardian and stay with her new found family but she couldn’t help but feel guilty more than anything. She was the reason Peter agreed to go to Ego’s planet, she practically gave Peter to Ego after all the years Yondu spent trying to keep him from his father. If Skadi had listened to Gamora in the first place, Peter would still have his Walkman, none of them would’ve been put through what they went through and Yondu would definitely be alive right now. This was all her fault, she thought to herself.

            “Hey?” Peter’s voice snapped her out of her. She meet her tired eyes with his, face still emotionless as it had been since they ‘woke up’ this morning. “You okay?”

            Skadi just looked back down as her answer, knowing that she’d break if she spoke. She gripped his hand tightly before letting go and joining the others as they lifted Yondu up to the crematory. Drax lifted him up with the help of Kraglin. Skadi noted how both Gamora and Nebula had left the room, probably going off to fight somewhere. Skadi didn’t care at the moment, watching the vibrant cosmic fires engulf Yondu’s body.

            Peter watched Skadi walk away from him causing his chest to feel heavy. She hadn’t said much since they’d been reunited. She just collapsed in his arms the moment Rocket beamed him and Yondu’s body into the ship. They stood there for a while, Kraglin joining them before they all decided it was best to try and get some sleep.

            “Pete?” Speaking of, Kraglin spoke, approaching Peter, holding something in his hands.

            “Cap’n found this for you in some Junker’s shop, on the moon, the one near Earth?” Kraglin spoke, holding up the small black item. “Said someday you’d come back to him and this would be your reward.”

            Peter takes the item from Kraglin, unsure what it was exactly. He presses the button in the middle of the circler dial and watches as the screen lights up. It looked like a list of words, _the Rubberband Man, Surrender, Signed, Sealed, Deliver (I’m Yours),_ it went on.

            “What is this?” Peter questioned looking up at Kraglin.

            “It’s called a Zune- what everyone listens to on Earth nowadays apparently.  It’s got like three hundred songs.”

            “300 songs?” Peter repeated, amazed at the device.

            He rubbed his finger over the screen, touched that Yondu got him this. He noted that the condition of it was perfect. He looked up at Kraglin in thanks, knowing that he kept it safe for him all this time. He walked over to one of the tables in the room, grabbing the one item resting on it; Yondu’s arrow.

            “Wait,” He called out to Kraglin before he could walk away. Peter held out the arrow for Kraglin to take. “Rocket grabbed the pieces and reassembled them last night. I think Yondu would want you to have it.”

            “Thank you,” Kraglin lip trembles. “Cap’n.”

            Wanting some time alone, to explore the Zune more closely, Peter nodded before leaving the room. Shooting one last look to the others. They all stood by the window, watching Yondu’s ashes float off into space. Quill made his way through the halls of the ship that was now theirs, granted they still had to fix the Milano, but this was theirs for now. And who knew maybe it was time to give their ship a new name?

            He paused as he reached Yondu’s old room. Opening the door he felt annoyed, seeing how messy the Ravagers left it when they’d taken over the ship. This was the one area him and Skadi didn’t try to clean last night, not ready to face their old mentor’s room just yet. Peter knew they’d fix it later but for now he sat on the bed, scrolling through the selection of songs on the Zune. Peter put the earbuds into his ears, knowing he’d have to get used them instead of his old headphones. He pauses over one song, the name sticking out to him. It was all too perfect and caused Peter to tear up again. He clicked on it, feeling somewhat calm as the light guitar came out of his earbuds.

            _Father and Son_ by Cat Stevens blares through his ears, not stopping the tears from leaking down his cheeks as the lyrics hit him hard. He’s halfway through the song when he noticed a body standing in front of him. He looks up from the Zune to see Skadi holding Groot in her hands. The little tree reaches out for him to pick him up. Peter smiles down at the baby and gives him his wish. Groot curiously looks at the things sticking out of his ears, never seeing them before but could hear a faint sound coming out from them.

            Peter takes out an earbud, handing it down to the little tree to take a listen to. Groot crawls up to sit on his lap and holds the earbud against his ear, amazed at how well the song sounded through this device. He hummed along even though he didn’t know the words but tried anyway. Skadi let out a tearful chuckle, not being able to deny how cute Groot was and how adorable the pair looked together.

            “Is that it?” She questioned motioning to the Zune. “Kraglin told me about it when I asked where you went.”

            “Yea,” Peter said, not realizing how hoarse his voice would sound. He grabbed at her hip, inching her closer to him, until she was sat on his lap as well after he gently picked up Groot and placed him on her lap so she wouldn’t crush him. He swiped her hair off of her neck, giving her a gentle kiss on the bare skin.

            “Are you going to leave now?” He asked her, noting that Groot looked up at her as well but was still listening contently to the music.

            “What?” She asked confused, her heart beating rapidly.

            “You know, like, are you going to leave now that you know who you are?” Peter said looking away from her, embarrassed. “You’re a princess after all.”

            Skadi bite her lip in response, mad that he made her want to cry again. She had already talked to Kraglin quickly before coming here to find him with Groot and already cried enough. Taking in a deep, shallow breath, she let her nostrils flare before she let herself speak again. She looked down at Groot before scooping him up into a hug.

            “I’d smack you Star-lord, but there’s a child present.” Skadi laughed, giving Groot a kiss on his small forehead.

            “If you were so concerned about a child being present, you wouldn’t call me Star-lord,” Peter chuckled, pitching her hip where Groot couldn’t see.

            Skadi slapped his shoulder playfully before pushing him backwards. His back hit the bed and he let out a grunt, not sure what she was up to with Groot still in her hands. He soon found out when Groot was placed on his chest and she soon joined him, laying down on her side and cuddling up to him. An arm draped over his chest, hugging Groot to him and holding his side tightly. Peter looked at her happily, smirking before giving her a long kiss on her head and reaching to put a hand over Groot’s back.

            “I’m staying where I am.” She said, muttered into his side. Letting out a yawn she felt exhausted and ready to sleep now. “Maybe one day I’ll go back to let them know I’m okay but that day isn’t today or any day soon. I’m happy where I am now.”

            Peter felt himself heat up, happy to hear those words come out of her mouth. He rustled slightly, letting himself sink further into the bed. He could see that Groot already had his little eyes closed and had his mouth open, drooling slightly. He could feel himself grow tired as well. As the song changed he closed his eyes, letting the new music drift him off to sleep.

 _Down around the corner, half a mile from here_ __  
See them long trains run, and you watch them disappear  
without love, where would you be now  
without lo-o-o-ove


	29. Knock Me Down, It's All In Vain

* * *

 

Skadi had made her way down the halls of the Quadrant, her stomach growling for food alongside Groot’s, who sat on his favorite place: her shoulders. She hummed the melody of one of the songs she’d listened to last night with Peter and Groot by some girl named Pat Benatar about hitting someone with their best shot. It was a catchy song, the tone of it somewhat reminding her of the Raspberries.

            Last night their short nap had been disturbed with Gamora, gently waking them and telling them there was something that they _had_ to see. The pair groggily followed her through the halls of the ship, Groot still knocked out as he was held by Peter to his shoulder. Any annoyance they had with being disturbed disappeared the moment they saw ships from different Ravager faction’s port around them, sending off fireworks in tribute to Yondu.

              They all proudly and solemnly watched the display, feeling closer as a family. Even Rocket and Peter shared a few words and made up. Skadi couldn’t help but smile as the two spoke, letting them be and have their own moment. Even little Groot, stirred in his sleep, his eyes reaching Drax and much to everyone’s surprised, reached out for the grey man to hold him.

            Skadi stood near Gamora and Mantis as well, now having the proper moment to welcome Mantis aboard. The young girl seemed ecstatic to finally be free of Ego and start a life of her own, a feeling that Skadi could relate too.

            “I’ve set a course to Lotiara.”

            Skadi halted in her steps, snapping out of her daydream at the sound of Dara sneaking up behind her and Groot. Groot turned his head around to face the Badoon still mad at her like nearly everyone else was on the ship. He stuck his tongue out at her, not caring if she would say anything to him. Dara just rolled her eyes at the stupid child, unamused or phased by his actions.

            “Okay,” Skadi muttered, rolling her eyes and continuing to walk forward without a glance to the Badoon.

            “I’ve given you all enough time to mourn.” Dara pressed, not a fan of being easily brushed off to the side like that. “Gamora promised-,”

            “That’d we’d bring you home, yes I’ve been told. You set a course to Lotiara correct? Then you should be home in what a day or two? You’re getting what you want so I don’t see the point in you bringing up what Gamora promised you.” Skadi huffed, keeping her voice stern and void of emotion.

            She sounded like her mother when she was unamused by her brother’s rivalry with the other or when Skadi would ‘forget’ to show up to one of her lessons. She smiled at the thought of her mother, missing her for a minute and hoping that she was doing okay.

            “What so since now that you know you’re a princess your too high and mighty to look at and talk to me?” Dara spat, not letting Skadi and Groot walk away from her.

            “I don’t owe you anything, or have to do anything for you.” Skadi stopped walking, turning on her heel to walk down the next hallway that came up, wanting to reach the kitchen area as quickly as possible. She knew what Dara was trying to do, she was trying to get one more fight out of her before she left for good.

            “Oh yeah?” Dara snorted, “All the times I saved your sorry ass? You get your memories back and it just wipes out all the times-,”

            “Yes it does.” Skadi hissed, turning to face her. Dara hadn’t expected it and almost crashed into her. “We aren’t friends, I tried to be and I can’t tell if you really did or if you were just messing with us but I don’t care anymore. This isn’t worth my time. I know what you’re trying to do and I’m above it. And yes, I am better than you; I wouldn’t sell out people who helped free me, who gave me a home, who gave me some sort of family for my own gain.”

            Dara for once was speechless and hadn’t already had some comeback ready to fly off the tip of her tongue. She just rubbed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at the floor. When the words finally found themselves she couldn’t help but be disappointed at how unlike herself they were, until a thought clicked into her mind.

            “Fine,” She shrugged. “But just so you know before I go, I thought that you’d might like to know that I’ve known all along.”

            “Known what?” Skadi scoffed, moving to walk again, deciding to amuse Dara with her attention.

            “Who you are.”

            “Lair,” Skadi sneered, turning back around. She ignored Groot’s warning tug to her braid, he tried to get her to ignore Dara but his eyes grew large when he saw her angry face. “You’re full of shit.”

            “I’m not,” Dara laughed, knowing that she’d gotten to her one last time and was happy with herself. “Back at the Kyln, your name was familiar; I’ve heard stories of you back at home. The Spartax home world isn’t too far from mine. The Spartax were allies with the Brotherhood so my people were under constant attack from them at the peak of the war. The only confirmation I needed was when I saw your powers, but you were so weak for an Asgardian so I didn’t care. I was gonna tell Gamora about it back on Knowhere but we were interrupted.”

            “Why did you never say anything?” Skadi shouted, feeling herself grow cold.

            _“I don’t owe you anything, or have to do anything for you.”_ Dara mimicked her voice, laughing after she finished.

            “You’re an asshole!” Skadi said disgusted, and fuming once again turning to walk away from her.

            “Took you that long to figure that out? They don’t raise princess’s to be too bright up there on Asgard do they?” Dara laughed, loudly as she continued to move to follow her to the kitchen.

            “What’s going on here?” Peter’s voice cut Dara off from continuing her tirade.

            Groot sighed in relief, bursting out in hand motions trying to explain what was happening, glad that Peter came to save him from the fight that was surely about to break out any moment now. Peter looked between the two girls barely understanding Groot’s rushed explanation.

            “You should keep your girlfriend on a leash.” Dara chuckled, moving past Skadi in order to beat her to the kitchen area. “She finds out she’s a princess to a realm and now she thinks she’s the shit! I’m only here for a few more days, _Star-lord_ , would hate from something to happen between her and I during that time.” Dara waved them off as she made her way down the rest of the hall.

            Peter looked to Skadi, seriously. He awaited her to tell him what really happened but blinked after her when she handed him Groot, and started back down the hallway from where he came from, back towards their room.

            “Groot’s hungry, I’m going back to bed.”

            Skadi nestled back into Yondu’s, well now her and Peter’s bed. She was angry that she let Dara get to her one last time. She was way better than that and she knew that yet still let her get under her skin. Rolling over, Skadi closed her eyes, still feeling somewhat tired and wanted to just sleep until they reached Lotiara and Dara was out of their hair.

            It wasn’t long before Skadi managed to drift back to sleep, surprisingly. It usually took her a while to fall asleep, even on her best days but she didn’t complain. She dreamed of Peter, and the rest of the Guardians; the dream didn’t make much sense or held anything specific it was just them all back on the Milano happily going about their day. Peter was dancing around, trying to get Gamora to dance with him, making everyone laugh as Gamora kneed him in the crotch.

            Skadi laughed, turning to face the window, overlooking a horizon of stars. She felt relaxed, turning over in her sleep, content. In her dream, as she moved closer to the window her eyes furrowed, seeing debris appearing off in the distance. Blinking, she saw that it multiplied and now she could see corpses floating alongside the wreckage. She turned around ready to shout out for the Guardians to rush into action and try and save them but cried out when she saw that they weren’t there.

            Calling out to them she felt her heart beat faster, having just seen them. Calling out again, she began to search the ship for them before starting to panic. She couldn’t breathe as she could only walk around the common area, all the other rooms either locked, or no longer there. She moved to walk up the stairs hoping that her friends were up there and could explain what was happening.

            Skadi felt her blood run cold, and not in a good way, when she took the final step up the ladder revealing what she thought would be the pilot deck to be something, or well, somewhere else entirely. She stood face to face with her father’s empty throne. It was just like she remembered, intimidating. Hurriedly, she turned to rush back down the stairs not wanting to go back home yet but found that they were no longer there and in fact she came face to face with a woman, the same woman she recognized from her dreams she’d have growing up.  It’d been years and years since she had the dreams; the dreams she’d wake up crying over and Loki would rush to her side, hearing her cries from across the hall in his room and try and comfort her.

            It was the woman, standing in front of her now, who’d always show up when she was dreaming about playing with her brother’s and would led her away from them and into a fire. Skadi cried out, startled to see her right in front of her again. The woman, with long dark hair and black smudged around her eyes, reached out to her, grabbing her left arm. She pulled Skadi to her, grasping her until her arm burned. Skadi tried to pull away but the woman held onto her tightly, until the burning was too much for Skadi to handle.

            _It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream.  But why did her arm hurt so much? And why couldn’t she wake up?_

            The woman let her go, revealing a new mark on Skadi’s arm; the mark of Death.

            “ _Skadi_ ,” the woman spoke, sinisterly.

            “Skadi!”

            “Skadi!”

            Skadi’s eyes snapped open, jolting up from the bed in such a rush that caused her to feel woozy.  She sat up straight, breathing quickly and looking up to see Peter hovering over her, worry evident on his face. He reached out for her trying to comfort her, gently pushing her over so he could lay down next to her and hold her against his chest. He rubbed her back and hummed gently, trying his best to sooth her.

            He’d dropped Groot off to Rocket, making sure the little guy would get fed before going off to find Skadi. He found her sleeping cozily and decided to join her. It felt like he had just drifted off into a blissful sleep, snuggled up to her when he was awaken by an elbow thrown roughly at his face. Irritably, he woke up, leaning up towards her to see what her issue was but soften when he saw her face contorted in discomfort. She was burning up against him and sweating. He tried shaking her awake for at least five minutes before she finally woke up.

            She stared at him, as if she was questioning if he was real or not. She flung the covers off of her, feeling hotter than she’d ever had before. Her arm was burning, right where that woman had touched her. She stood on the cold floor, trying to use her powers to cool down but still felt so hot.

            “You’re okay, it was just a dream.” Peter said, patting the empty space next to him. “Come lay down, I’ll put the Zune on and it’ll help-,”

            “No it won’t. That wasn’t just a dream Peter, it was so real.” Skadi paced back and forth, refusing to shake it off as a dream.

            She scratched at her arm, still feeling the burning sensation. She’d looked down half expecting to see the mark but sighed in relief when she saw that it wasn’t in fact there. Feeling slightly better, she sat back down on the bed before allowing Peter to drag her down so she was resting against his chest. He rubbed gentle circles on her mark, calming her breathing and making her nerves not so jittery.  She could feel him move slightly, looking up to see him reaching for the Zune that laid on the night side table. Closing her eyes tightly, she let him put on earbud in her ear, knowing he had the other in his. The dream Skadi had was soon long forgotten as they were both knocked out, the music drifting them off to sleep.

             

 


End file.
